Two Trains Leave Paris: Number Problems for Word People

by Taylor Frey, Mike Wesolowski

Math is universal, but it’s also the least understood and most undervalued subject taught in school. Two Trains Leave Number Problems for Word People seeks to offer readers an opportunity to experience math like never before. You must use the Pythagorean Theorem to figure out how far apart two ex-lovers are when they simultaneously realize that they cannot live without each other. You must use addition (and logic) to explore the ridiculous (and patriarchal!) wage gap. Throughout six math-themed chapters, readers will follow a series of characters as they apply for jobs, fall in love, get abducted by aliens, and experience many of life’s other big and small moments, all of which are dictated by—you guessed it—math! With the help of humor, mathematical history, and how-to-solve sections, Two Trains Leave Paris asks readers to help its characters find growth in the most unexpected of word problems. And the answers are, of course, in the back.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2019

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to ask myself who the fuck this book is for. Like, I'm pretty good at maths so some of it is far too easy and I can't really relate to the young person-ness of it. If you're not good at maths, well tough, this isn't going to explain it to you. If you're doing what I did and using it as a fun way of doing some extra maths with a teenager, it can work, but you'll have to skip some bits (too advanced) and roll your eyes a bit at the stoner jokes. (oh America with your constant need for more drugs and more guns. Calm down. Have a cup of tea) It just seemed like it needed a bit of pulling together. I dunno.
Anyway, all that moaning aside, I've quite enjoyed the journey, skipping whole sections, not bothering with some of the narrative, coming at it in a sort of shambling way, and solving some of the puzzles with my teenager. It's been good for days when you need to fit some maths in but don't feel up to doing practice exam questions.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun concept but too cute by (2*2)/8

[Lina~Blackbird Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I can say I read this, because I've only started on the math problems, but I did read through the story. So, what the heck, I read it😅

This is yet another book that promises to tackle the stereotypical bane of readers everywhere-math. However, it differentiates itself from the pack of "math help" books with a wacky overarching story and irreverent black comedy. I absolutely loved it.

As for the math, this book covers algebra, geometry, trig, calculus (dubbed "The Hellbeast's Surprise") and probability. It's surprisingly challenging-I don't even know what to do about some of the algebra-but it's done in such an approachable way that you won't really feel bad about messing up.

I do want to warn you all-this is not the book for everyone. As I just mentioned, the humor is quite black and may strike some people as cruel, and the content is definitely not appropriate for all ages. But if you're a fan of quirky, offbeat, surprisingly touching stories, then you'll get a kick out of this.

[Ellen Kozisek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, entertaining, but I wasn't really that interested in the math.

[Maurizio Codogno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricordatevi che la matematica non è una panacea

Questo libro ha un approccio alla matematica elementare piuttosto peculiare, con Taylor che controbatte ai peana di Mike per la matematica mostrando come nella vita le cose siano ben diverse. Vi riporto una domanda, per darvi un'idea di quello che intendo. Quando gli si chiede quanti anni ha, il professor Newman risponde "Se li quadruplichi e togli due, ottieni 110". (a) Quanti anni ha? (b) Perché il professor Newman parla così? (la risposta a (b) è "Perché gli riesce difficile aprirsi alla gente") Oppure c'è un classico word problem, con due amiche che partono ciascuna con una quantità x di soldi e comprano un po' di bottiglie di vino. Alla domanda "qual è l'espressione che corrisponde ai soldi che hanno alla fine" le risposte sono (a) x - (3(40)+5(55)); (b) 2x-95; (c) 2x+95; (d) "Si vive una volta sola" (risposte corrette: (b) e (d)). Non sono certo che il libro vi insegnerà a risolvere i problemi matematici, anche perché in poche pagine si passa dall'algebra di base alla trigonometria e all'analisi matematica; ma vi rivelerà la fondamentale interconnessione di tutte le cose e soprattutto vi ricorderà che non è detto che a una domanda bisogna sempre rispondere in modo matematicamente corretto. Ah, se il cognome Frey vi fa venire in mente Glenn Frey degli Eagles avete proprio ragione: era suo padre.