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Математика для тех, кто боится математики: Еще одна книга с дурацкими рисунками (MATH FOR ENGLISH MAJORS)

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- Новая книга автора бестселлера «Математика с дурацкими рисунками»
- Рассказывает, откуда берется ментальный блок на математику и как его снять
- Лексика, грамматика и синтаксис математического языка — рекомендовано для студентов гуманитарных факультетов

О чем

Говорят, математика — это универсальный язык. Автор бестселлера «Математика с дурацкими рисунками» Бен Орлин подумал: а что, если воспринять эту идею буквально? Не «математика — это что-то вроде логической поэзии» или «математика — это, метафорически выражаясь, язык вселенной». Нет. Что, если математика — это язык в том же смысле, в каком языками являются испанский, арабский или дотракийс

408 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2024

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Ben Orlin

5 books236 followers

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Displaying 1 - 27 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Ben Orlin.
Author 5 books236 followers
February 6, 2024
There is a trick that all math popularizers pull. (I should know; I've made a career of it.)

That trick is to change the subject. Literally.

You want to know why your school put you through that alienating decade of fractions and quadratics and word problems? Well, the reason is... hey, look over there! A coastline shaped like a fractal! A dog solving an optimization problem! A proof so blasphemous its writer was thrown into the sea! Isn't this fun?!

All of which is genuine math. But the subject extolled in such books doesn't quite align with the one taught in schools. The question isn't "Why should I learn cool math?" but "Why should I learn *school* math?"

This book is my stab at that harder, franker question. No more cherry-picking fun stuff and translating it out of mathematical language. Now, we inspect that weird, wonderful language itself. The resulting book casts deeply familiar material in what I hope is a strange and startling light. (What are numbers? Adjectives that made the leap to nouns. What are fractions? A language with infinite synonyms. How do you solve an equation? Paraphrase, paraphrase, paraphrase.) Each chapter aims to elicit two reactions:

1. (from the math-averse) "Ohhhh! Why did no one tell me that before?!"

2. (from the math-affiliated) "Huh! I never thought of it that way."

School math, it turns out, *is* cool math. You just need to see it through the eyes of your inner English major.
Profile Image for Emma.
87 reviews
October 4, 2025
"To speak mathematics is to slip back and forth between two worlds, to inhabit two distinct frames of mind: the hard joy of thinking and the mindless trance of symbol pushing." (197)

So fun!! Ben Orlin is a hoot and all the cute drawings made this a treat to read. I didn't realize how much the study of math and the study literature have in common-- particularly quest for truth and for devising language for the unexpressable. I've often felt somewhat alienated from or baffled by math lovers and considered the subject to be depressingly dry, but this book illuminated some of the more endearing and philosophical aspects of the discipline. For example, pi day as a celebration of "admir[ing] a number that escapes description, a noun that can never be uttered" (58)-- love that!!

I'm super interested in the relationship between truth and language, and I wish there were more books that probed this intersection for all STEM subjects. That is often the sticking point for me-- that the language feels like such a poor, arbitrary replacement for the crazy stuff underneath, for whatever truths the discipline is trying to uncover. These existential questions about what we are *really* doing when we are dividing, for example, or if there is any good in using negative exponents, even just parsing out the difference between a convention and a law, are so sanity-inducing. Need more teachers who indulge these kinds of conversations!

The distinction between symbol pushing and thinking really rang true for me, and unfortunately I think my early math success came largely from being a good symbol pusher. That feeling of "wrangl[ing] ideas simply by wrangling ink" is so satisfying, and it feels like it comes from the same part of my brain that enjoys refining stylistic elements in writing. I wish I had felt confident enough to wade through the messier, awe-inspiring truths of math underneath the neat, organized language, though.
Profile Image for Karen Carlson.
690 reviews12 followers
May 24, 2025
If you feel that wave of tension you remember from your school days creeping up on you as you read just the title and intro quote – Relax! Think of this as a humor book rather than as a math book. A humor book that just might help some of us feel less anxious about math – and we might even learn something!
I’m naturally suspicious of books that try to make math fun or understandable for those of us who missed the boat back in fifth grade. But I trust Ben, and he earns that trust over and over. As here: he approaches numbers as nouns, arithmetic as verbs, and algebra as grammar. Then there’s a handy phrase book at the end to wrap things up.
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense.
Profile Image for Meenakshisankar M.
272 reviews10 followers
May 2, 2025
I'm not an English major, I've been "mathing" my whole life through engineering & finance degrees and later at work. However, even I found certain elegance and new-found appreciation for the way in which basic concepts of mathematics were explained beautifully in this book, and served as a great refresher. The explanations are funny filled with anecdotes, and the accompanying cartoons are very entertaining.
10 reviews
August 31, 2025
No matter what your relationship with Math, I highly recommend this book for the author's style of writing and his ability to bring in a humorous dimension to a subject that so many have a love hate relationship with. it was an enjoyable read for me and I can't wait to check out his other books.
Profile Image for Lisa Davidson.
1,323 reviews38 followers
Read
December 18, 2023
I freely admit that I'm biased. I don't find math intuitive and I like it when someone can explain even simple things I already know. Books like this make math MAKE SENSE.
And I love the pictures. Hilariously, it was easy to see when the stick figures were annoyed or whatever the situation called for.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
Profile Image for Brian Clegg.
Author 162 books3,177 followers
September 5, 2024
Ben Orlin makes the interesting observation that the majority of people give up on understanding maths at some point, from fractions or algebra all the way through to tensors. At that stage they either give up entirely or operate the maths mechanically without understanding what they are doing. In this light-hearted take, Orlin does a great job of taking on mathematical processes a step at a time, in part making parallels with the structure of language.

Many popular maths books shy away from the actual mathematical representations, going instead for verbal approximations. Orlin doesn't do this, but makes use of those linguistic similes and different ways of looking at the processes involved to help understanding. He also includes self-admittedly awful (but entertaining) drawings and stories from his experience as a long-time maths teacher.

To make those parallels, Orlin refers to numbers as nouns, operations as verbs (though he points out that there are some flaws in this simile) and syntax, for example of algebra, as grammar. he then gives us a mathematical 'phrase book' described as 'a local's guide to mathematical vocabulary' to bring in topics such as errors, logic, probability and correlations. This last is my least favourite bit as it's mostly just defining terms and doesn't give us the same dive into the underlying reasoning as occurs in the other sections.

One almost inevitable point when we're talking about mathematics and language is how the word mathematics should be shortened. In once sense Orlin's response to the argument over maths vs math is correct: 'They're interchangeable, and anyone who argues otherwise is a pedant.' But the reality is that to the British ear and eye, 'math' just grates - and I suspect the same is true the other way round in the US. I do wish there had been a British English version of the book.

I'm also sad that when presenting what multiplication is, Orlin doesn't deal with the infamous internet spat when an American student was marked down in a test for representing 5 x 3 as adding three fives, rather than five threes. It would have been perfect fodder for Orlin, as it comes down to how you represent the x symbol in English words. If you (somewhat childishly) replace x with 'lots of' then it is five threes. But if you replace it with 'multiplied by' then it's three fives. Of course, either works - it's commutative - but that didn't prevent plenty of people saying the 'three fives' approach is wrong.

Overall, the book is a delight and though I probably didn't learn much new about mathematics, I very much enjoyed Orlin's storytelling and little facts and different ways of looking at mathematical operations and practices that he introduces.
Profile Image for Varsha Reddy.
15 reviews1 follower
November 2, 2025
Years of reading have taught me to look out for Chekhov’s guns and this time it was a conversation on math*. A long while ago, a friend and I were musing over the careers we would have chosen, if we had the chance, and he said he would have done a degree in mathematics.

Math, to me, had always been a tyrant forcing a foreign language on me. And taught by terrible teachers, unease grew into something oppressive, something I could not escape from. And math eventually became a means to an end—to pass an exam, to get a job. It was, for the longest time, a stark reminder that passion and skill did not always coexist. That you can be good at something and still have not your heart in it.

So naturally, his choice fascinated me: Why math? I asked, and his answer took me by surprise: “I just love numbers.” A passion so pure that words felt short. For him, math was an end in itself.

Then came Act III and the passing conversation returned, leading me to this little gem of a book.

And I get it now, people love numbers like I love words. Numbers are nouns, verbs are operations variables are pronouns. Algebra is a mathematical whodunit with a description, evidence, suspects and culprits. The writer and the mathematician are both fighting the same battle, trying to measure a reality that refuses to be measurable; to create perfect knowledge in a world that is imperfectly knowable.

As an English Major in spirit, and connoisseur of bad drawings, I would highly recommend this book. Orlin does an excellent job of convincing you that math is not just meaningless marks on paper but a poetry of logical ideas. What stood out for me the most were the parts where he discusses the philosophy of mathematical concepts, like this one:

The infinitesimal—and thus, the infinite—came to signify the frontier where logic dissolves, the paradoxical site of an everything that comes from something and a something that comes from nothing. Infinity is the Jungian serpent that devours its own tail, a thought that cannot truly be a thought—or so it was until the late 19th century when George Cantor clapped infinity in the irons of rigorous mathematics. He caged the infinite within the language of sets and collections, bending the illogical to obey his logic. ()

Breathtaking!


*maybe not a gun gun.
Profile Image for Ron.
4,071 reviews11 followers
January 17, 2025
So, when you think of mathematics, do you come up with images of a dry subject that you were forced to study in school, but no longer remember much of the content? Or do you think of mathematics as the elegant description of everything? Maybe you are somewhere in between these polar opposites. But no matter where you fall on this sliding scale, Ben Orlin wants you to think of math as more than a game of "meaningless marks on paper" (David Hilbert).

Ben Orlin lays out his premise in the introduction and then dives the reader into it. He discusses the syntax of Algebra, looking at numbers and treating numbers as nouns in that syntax. After he has gone through symbols, equations, graphs, errors, and rules, he takes a break and provides a phrase book - A Local's Guide to Mathematical Vocabulary. Orlin then drags the reader into the actions of mathematics - what he calls the Verbs. Verbs for Orlin include the standards - addition, subtraction, multiplication, division plus squaring/cubing, exponents, logic and proofs, infinity and a host of others. Orlin finishes off the book with famous names and mathematical folklore followed by citations and where a reader could learn more.

If the reader is looking at a different approach to mathematics, Ben Orlin's Math for English Majors will aid in that quest.He accompanies the text with bad drawings (he has written another book called Math with Bad Drawings) to illustrate his points. Give it a try and maybe you will retain more math knowledge then when you started!
Profile Image for Bookworm.
2,312 reviews97 followers
December 19, 2024
The tile caught my eye as someone who had a lot of trouble with math in school (but wasn't an English major--did consider it though). I was excited to read how this would, perhaps, help me as a decidedly non-mathy person understand the concept better. I had actually read a book of his years ago but didn't realize it until after I had read this one.

Unfortunately, I would have saved myself a lot of work if I had. Explaining math as if it is something like learning another language rather than working with numbers isn't a terrible idea but this was horribly dull. Unlike other people, I felt like this wasn't about math at all, but rather about math as a language, which is not what I was thinking I was getting when I decided to read this.

A lot of people really liked it, but I will admit I still feel genuinely puzzled by the hype and the book itself. It did not feel like the author was really explaining, well, the math at all.

I think this could very much be a matter of the style being not for me. The other book I read by him is using drawings to explain math, which I also thought would be something that appeal but really didn't. It works for other people but doesn't for me and I'll probably skip any other books from the author going forward.

Borrowed from the library and that was best for me.
Profile Image for Shu.
518 reviews3 followers
October 5, 2024
My daughter (13) is such a huge fan of Ben Orlin that she asked me to pre-order this book months in advance and reread the author’s first 3 books during the “agonizing” wait. Of course, she devoured the book in a day, forced it to the top of my TBR, and kept on enticing me with the “glorious” section of pages upon pages of nerdy jokes with cute drawings.

I page-flagged all the literature allusions and STEM references and confirmed that my daughter knew more about the “mathletes” than the wordsmiths featured. Therein lies my challenge to the author: I posit that this book is actually not for English majors, but for math communicators, granted the charming prose and stunning insight should delight any language lover.

The author’s passion for math education once again sustained a silly smile on my face while I combed through the pages (even down to the bibliography). I did take note that some students’ common misunderstandings of elementary math the author encountered as a teacher seem to be rooted in English, because I don’t recall ever seeing the same issues in Chinese.
Profile Image for Mardi.
206 reviews
February 28, 2024
[unsolicited review of advanced reader copy from netgalley]

Spoiler alert: it's really about math and there is math on practically every page.

My brother and I were both English majors. We also both had Miss Fox for math (he had her in 8th grade, I had her in 6th). My year with Miss Fox coincided and interfered with her wedding planning. So, she taught my class counted cross-stitch (math-related, I guess) and spent the rest of the year perusing wedding magazines. And so, I eventually flunked trig and I blame the 6th grade.

If anyone had ever taken the time to break concepts down for me like Orlin does here, I might have hated math less. Maybe. Anything is possible.

This book is appropriate for anyone (most ages) who needs/wants to understand math in practical terms. Orlin makes it seem useful and far less mysterious.
Profile Image for Valerie Biggam.
254 reviews
December 2, 2025
🧮As a recovering “not a math person” I was shocked how much I liked this.
🧮The overall premise of comparing parts of expressions or equations to nouns, verbs, etc. was cool and helpful!
🧮The cartoons are funny but also helped me understand some of the concepts.
🧮Sort of a Randall Monroe but for math vibe, so I’m going to recommend this to my 11 y.o. since he loves What If, etc.

🙇🏻‍♀️Reading this definitely felt like work sometimes. Even though it was enjoyable, I needed brain breaks to process the ideas. People with more math background and arithmetic skills might find this a quicker read.
Profile Image for Charessa.
286 reviews3 followers
August 14, 2024
Thank you to Running Press and NetGalley for the eGalley to review!

I can't describe how much I love this book. It's succinct, in-depth, and hilarious to read. It's helpful not just for students, but for teachers too! Not only does it describe everything mathematical, it also mentions why certain things are not used widely or why they should probably be retired due to newer things (such as pi with tau). There are helpful and hilarious illustrations to help correlate ideas.

It's an excellent resource! I'd definitely want this on both a classroom and public library shelf.
Profile Image for Leah.
431 reviews2 followers
October 13, 2024
Such a fun creative book! Orlin breaks down math concepts, relating them well to English and telling numerous entertaining anecdotes that kept my attention. The drawings/illustrations were hilarious while being informative and relevant! Unlike my usual reads, I found that it does take multiple sittings to fully take in and appreciate the genius ideas behind these explanations. This English major happily and enthusiastically recommends this book to anyone else who wants a more relatable informational explanation of mathematics! 10/10 Fantastic Read!
Profile Image for Deryk Rumbold.
137 reviews
October 11, 2025
Ben Orlin is becoming one of my favorite modern math advocates. At a surface level the comic like presentation makes it look like fluff math musings but he actually is a really strong write that manages to twist anecdotes, theorems, and equations into short little thoughts designed to make you approach the topic at hand a little different.
Profile Image for Beau.
158 reviews3 followers
January 5, 2025
A high-quality book you'll enjoy if you like math but don't know much about it. It's clever, sometimes funny, and the drawings are great. If you are already well-versed in algebra, you'll find it a bit boring. However, I did get a few ideas to brighten up my teaching skills.
5 reviews
Read
February 23, 2025
DNF. I was completely lost before I even finished the first chapter. Still looking for the magic elixir that makes explaining math dummy-proof.
Profile Image for Maria.
151 reviews26 followers
March 5, 2025
I can't say no to a Ben Orlin book. Quick, fun read.
Profile Image for Nupur.
366 reviews27 followers
April 2, 2025
Great book- Orlin is a talented "explainer" and brings math to life.
Profile Image for Andrew.
727 reviews9 followers
June 18, 2025
Not as consistent as the last book. That final section felt tacked on by an editor. But the preceding content was an engaging metaphor.
Profile Image for Tim.
90 reviews
June 28, 2025
Interesting and entertaining explanation about basic concepts in mathematics. This is the way the subject should be taught in school.
180 reviews
July 16, 2025
More of a skim, instead of a full read. But this was an interesting approach to mathematical concepts.
Profile Image for Julie.
397 reviews6 followers
December 16, 2025
I'm not sure I really understand math better but this guy made it fun to realize it's just another way of thinking. A lot of it doesn't even seem all that practical, frankly.
372 reviews
December 19, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 28 reviews

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