A Slice of Pi: All The Maths You Forgot To Remember From School

by Liz Strachan

A new look at maths without the Boring Bits . . .How many trillions are there in a googol? Which fractions are vulgar? What famous mathematician refused to eat beans? And which one never travelled without his pet spider in an ivory box?Mathematical theorems and equations are inextricably entangled with the great, and often eccentric thinkers who made breakthrough discoveries. Teacher and numbers expert Liz Strachan takes readers beyond the classroom, combining anecdotes, proofs and party tricks to reveal the foundations of algebra, geometry and trigonometry in a clear and entertaining style.From the Difference Engine to magic squares and from the Fibonacci rabbits to Fermat's Last Theorem, this fascinating tour of the weird world of numbers, imaginary, real or infinite, will appeal to anyone with an enquiring mind.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2016

Reviews

[Perla E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, overall I enjoyed reading the book because it was kind of funny. However, I think the subtitle is misleading. Instead of "All The Maths You Forgot To Remember From School", should be " A bunch of interesting facts about mathematicians and random math tricks using algebra". I say this because I never heard these stories in High School and also many topics of The mathematics curriculum (At least from the USA were not mentioned in this book at all).

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting trick and tips in here, as well as lots of random math facts, but I don't think I remember a single one. I would read a chapter, say, "that's interesting," and then go on to the next short chapter, but nothing really stuck in my mind. I think this is a book that is definitely more useful in a printed form than as an ebook, because if I were teaching math there are definitely some interesting tricks in here. I just isn't very usable in Kindle format.