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Mathematics Minus Fear
“Every school classroom has a special flavor. And of all these flavors, it is often that of the mathematics classroom that has left the bitterest taste. In here, you face the ordeal of quick-fire questions designed to expose and embarrass the weakest among you. In here, every furrowed brow and frustrated sigh signals the same unspoken message: ‘I don’t understand!’”
Does this sound familiar? This book will banish such memories and put the fun back into sums. Lawrence Potter’s encouraging words will demystify numbers for even the most obstinate nonbeliever. Includes examples on how to cope with everyday mathematical encounters ranging from filling out tax returns to playing the lottery.
Does this sound familiar? This book will banish such memories and put the fun back into sums. Lawrence Potter’s encouraging words will demystify numbers for even the most obstinate nonbeliever. Includes examples on how to cope with everyday mathematical encounters ranging from filling out tax returns to playing the lottery.
287 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2006
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91 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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March 18, 2017I was one of those children (I presume I was not alone in this) who cried over their fractions homework and I struggled with maths throughout my school years. Although I've come to a working accommodation with the subject, partly as a result of realising that you can do a lot just with some pretty basic maths, I remain a sucker for self-help books on the subject.
The really positive aspect of this book was learning that strategies that I had adopted such as using bad mental arithmetic to work out what the ballpark for a correct answer should look like are fairly wide-spread and that my mathematical thinking is on a par with that of the ancient Egyptians. This may sound laughably bad to the mathematically accomplished, but to someone like myself who is unlikely ever to need to design and build a pyramid, it is immensely reassuring.
The really positive aspect of this book was learning that strategies that I had adopted such as using bad mental arithmetic to work out what the ballpark for a correct answer should look like are fairly wide-spread and that my mathematical thinking is on a par with that of the ancient Egyptians. This may sound laughably bad to the mathematically accomplished, but to someone like myself who is unlikely ever to need to design and build a pyramid, it is immensely reassuring.
September 14, 2019
I bought this book when I was about to start an adult-learners' maths course, the idea being to get into a mathematical mindset, to brush up on some basics and to learn a little not-so-basic. Mr Potter's book delivered the goods for me in an easy-going and engaging style.
I'd recommend this book for anybody wanting to learn about and have fun with maths.
I'd recommend this book for anybody wanting to learn about and have fun with maths.
March 20, 2020
Sense of humor was a bit outdated and off-putting. References to cavemen chasing cave women, lots on how to win in Vegas, etc. Pretty bro-y.
But hey, I finished it!
But hey, I finished it!
September 19, 2025
didn’t work. i am still deeply afraid of mathematics.
January 10, 2013
Was alright, but then I do like strange things. The problems were interesting and the discussion of concepts sometimes thought provoking. The storyline fell apart and made no sense. I think it was supposed to provide some sort of unifying line to follow through the book, but it quickly became the part I skimmed in order to return more quickly to the meat.
April 11, 2013
A nice. solid, simple book that explains some basic concepts in math, such as arithmetic, algebra, and probability. Adding in some history and humor makes for a fun read.
August 25, 2019
I only read this book as a last resort on holiday as my eldest had it as homework for his A-levels and couldn’t be bothered to read it and write a review so I read it, at school I loved maths but didn’t do great in my GCSEs but with this book I may have done better then but to be honest most of it today goes over my head .
May 18, 2023
Much of this book felt more like instructions on how to solve different types of elementary-level math problems rather than explaining the usefulness of math in daily life (which is what I expected of the book). The probability section was interesting, but the rest was a bit lackluster.
October 12, 2011
The Wikipedia Age and its associated experts-are-scum mentality have produced a spate of books on fairly technical subjects written by outsiders (usually journalists) who have read a few relevant articles but are, on the whole, woefully unprepared to pass on anything they may have learned, usually on the assumption that, as outsiders, they're better equipped to communicate with the general public than the people who actually know what they're talking about.
In mathematics, this manifests itself in two broad genres: on the one hand you have people like Alex Bellos, who are genuinely enthusiastic about (some aspect of) mathematics turning out to be interesting and don't let their inexperience get in the way of trying to communicate that enthusiasm; these books are usually unfortunate, but sort of heart-warming. On the other, you have people like Lawrence Potter, who don't see the point of mathematics unless it directly helps them calculate tips, do their taxes, or win at cards; a few decades ago they would have been complaining about ``ivory towers'', nowadays they mostly talk about ``the real world'' a lot, and they resent maths teachers who suggest there could possibly be value in mathematics for its own sake.
I have no idea why Potter thinks his target audience would buy books about mathematics, but if they did, even they would find Mathematics Minus Fear an insult to their intelligence. The historical filler text is even less accurate than it usually is in popular mathematics, and the actual maths doesn't get past the first three years of elementary school — because that's all anyone will ever need in the real world.
(And the singular of ``dice'' isn't fucking ``dice''.)
In mathematics, this manifests itself in two broad genres: on the one hand you have people like Alex Bellos, who are genuinely enthusiastic about (some aspect of) mathematics turning out to be interesting and don't let their inexperience get in the way of trying to communicate that enthusiasm; these books are usually unfortunate, but sort of heart-warming. On the other, you have people like Lawrence Potter, who don't see the point of mathematics unless it directly helps them calculate tips, do their taxes, or win at cards; a few decades ago they would have been complaining about ``ivory towers'', nowadays they mostly talk about ``the real world'' a lot, and they resent maths teachers who suggest there could possibly be value in mathematics for its own sake.
I have no idea why Potter thinks his target audience would buy books about mathematics, but if they did, even they would find Mathematics Minus Fear an insult to their intelligence. The historical filler text is even less accurate than it usually is in popular mathematics, and the actual maths doesn't get past the first three years of elementary school — because that's all anyone will ever need in the real world.
(And the singular of ``dice'' isn't fucking ``dice''.)
May 25, 2013
enjoyable quick read aimed apparently at people who hated math in school and were horrible at it but now have decided they want to learn AND want a side of math history (how zero got started, why roman numerals were awkward to work with for multiplication, Fermat's nasty habit of leaving steps out of his written notes re proofs he'd solved because he thought they were obvious..........). Not sure this is a vast market, but whatever; i'm not a literary agent, so who knows.
It's all pre-calculus (computation, fractions, some algebra, probability) so for me not that hard and not stuff I hated to begin with, but the presentation is fairly funny, the problems/puzzles doable but somewhat challenging.
I may just be getting this from the last-name coincidence and his being British, but the sense of humor reminded me a little of Stephen Potter's "upmanship" books.
minor quibble: there is a very odd 13-page appendix in which he laboriously shows you how to do Sudoku puzzles, using a time-consuming, brute-force method that is (a) not especially obscure, and (b) as he acknowledges, has nothing to do with math. You could replace the numbers 1--9 with shapes, letters, or pictures of fruit, and sudoku would play out the same. I wonder if it hit England later -- by 2012 when this was published, I can't believe there were as many as 10 Americans sufficiently interested in sudoku but unfamiliar with how to play that this appendix would help them.
It's all pre-calculus (computation, fractions, some algebra, probability) so for me not that hard and not stuff I hated to begin with, but the presentation is fairly funny, the problems/puzzles doable but somewhat challenging.
I may just be getting this from the last-name coincidence and his being British, but the sense of humor reminded me a little of Stephen Potter's "upmanship" books.
minor quibble: there is a very odd 13-page appendix in which he laboriously shows you how to do Sudoku puzzles, using a time-consuming, brute-force method that is (a) not especially obscure, and (b) as he acknowledges, has nothing to do with math. You could replace the numbers 1--9 with shapes, letters, or pictures of fruit, and sudoku would play out the same. I wonder if it hit England later -- by 2012 when this was published, I can't believe there were as many as 10 Americans sufficiently interested in sudoku but unfamiliar with how to play that this appendix would help them.
September 20, 2012
The writer of this book should take a few lessons in writing for those of us who are not number-friendly.
I can add and subtract, and can calulate a tip in less time than my husband can whip out his calculator, but I've always been totally lost when it comes to higher math. So, when this book was posted on my local libary site, I thought wow! maybe this would be my solution. My entrance into the hallowed world of higher math. A pathway through a wilderness of numbers. A map for the arithmetic-impaired.
Nope. From the first page I was lost in that wilderness, without a map, without a compass, without even Google. I tried until my eyes crossed, but never could understand what he was trying to say. "Perhaps", I told myself, "he is writing in a foreign language". Well, yes, that was true - Math IS a foreign language! But he forgot to include a translation, and so once again I was lost and abandoned on an endless sea of numbers, integers (what, exactly, IS an integer?), and-ugh!-word problems. What care I if two men work upteen hours for some money when they are just going to fight over it anyway, no matter how it's divided? Simple answer: I don't.
Anyway, that's it for me. I tried. From now on, I retain without apology my status as a math atheist, and will insist until my dying breath that "Numbers Lie". And no one can explain them. Not nobody. Not no how.
I can add and subtract, and can calulate a tip in less time than my husband can whip out his calculator, but I've always been totally lost when it comes to higher math. So, when this book was posted on my local libary site, I thought wow! maybe this would be my solution. My entrance into the hallowed world of higher math. A pathway through a wilderness of numbers. A map for the arithmetic-impaired.
Nope. From the first page I was lost in that wilderness, without a map, without a compass, without even Google. I tried until my eyes crossed, but never could understand what he was trying to say. "Perhaps", I told myself, "he is writing in a foreign language". Well, yes, that was true - Math IS a foreign language! But he forgot to include a translation, and so once again I was lost and abandoned on an endless sea of numbers, integers (what, exactly, IS an integer?), and-ugh!-word problems. What care I if two men work upteen hours for some money when they are just going to fight over it anyway, no matter how it's divided? Simple answer: I don't.
Anyway, that's it for me. I tried. From now on, I retain without apology my status as a math atheist, and will insist until my dying breath that "Numbers Lie". And no one can explain them. Not nobody. Not no how.
April 1, 2011
This is a good re-introduction to maths for people who haven't done it in a while. I thought the first half of the book was really good, the second half dragged a bit, but if you are studying GCSE or A-Level mathematics (or upper High school, whatever area you are in) - then I think it could be a good help.
It would be worth taking notes from this book if you are seriously studying, as some of the techniques Potter introduces are really handy and could make complicated concepts seem a bit simpler.
However, for people who are just stretching their brain. Like me, it's probably worth skipping a few of the puzzles, as they get a bit..huh? Near the end. Although that could just be me.
It would be worth taking notes from this book if you are seriously studying, as some of the techniques Potter introduces are really handy and could make complicated concepts seem a bit simpler.
However, for people who are just stretching their brain. Like me, it's probably worth skipping a few of the puzzles, as they get a bit..huh? Near the end. Although that could just be me.
May 29, 2013
Though I gleaned a few different new ways of calculating, as a whole I still have "fear." Words are more my thing, and numbers are a different language I have always had trouble understanding. This book, even with its telling of the history of math throughout the ages, just wasn't interesting to me. Maybe someone else could identify and absorb this book on numbers better than I could.
September 8, 2008
Read in lil installments. My maths aint that bad, but, good for refresher.
April 14, 2013
Delightful. Had fun reading and solving problems.
April 8, 2015
This was an enjoyable book about math. It did not get to overwhelming in the numbers and was generally approachable. Much of it was useful and applicable.
October 4, 2016
Too simple. Patronising to the hardworking teachers. Didn't like.
October 29, 2013
Great book.It can be read from beginning to end or just pick a chapter/topic to read.
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