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Cool Math
This is no textbook! Cool Math is the ultimate exploration of numbers for kids. Packed with codes, games, quizzes, hands-on activities, and awesome, mind-bending facts, Cool Math proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that math is anything but boring! In six fun-packed chapters, Cool Math delves into everything that is fun about math: card tricks, crazy number combos, spy secrets, true tales of math discovery, decoding tricks, Fibonacci spirals, googols, binary numbers, and the Kongisberg bridges. Plus, there are special Cool Calculations sections, Awesome Math Activities sidebars, mind games, and much, much more. So if you want to know which day of the week will Christmas be in the year 2025, or what carnival games you are most likely to win, check out Cool Math--the fun and educational book that adds up to a surefire bestseller!
96 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 1997
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23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 15, 2019
Although this book is very dated (the book was published in 1997 and references a pager as an example of recent technology on p. 5), it does provide an enlightening history on the sometimes dramatic and fascinating development of mathematical theories and methods that have changed our world and way of thinking.
One example of how dated the book is and how much technology has changed our ability to do complex mathematical computations is shown in the section about the irrational number pi (π). The book states that pi has been "calculated to over 6 billion decimal places!" (p. 21) But this article shows that accomplishment has been dwarfed - it's now up to 31.4 trillion digits as of Pi Day (14 March) this year (2019).
Another example is the discussion about perfect numbers. Although the book states that there have been 32 perfect numbers identified, as of 2018, 51 perfect numbers have been discovered (see list here).
Ditto prime numbers (discussion on p. 40). The book states the largest prime number has 227,832 digits, but as of December 2019, the largest prime number found has "24,862,048 digits when written in base 10."
On the positive side, the book also offers various activities and 'magic' tricks for children to do, which help to illustrate a concept. It's appropriate for older elementary school-age and middle grade students, but is a bit long and I feel as though children will lose interest unless they are very intrigued by mathematical topics.
I really liked how the author showed how big a number with 1 billion decimal places can be, if written out. A number with a large-ish font (probably about font size 20) would stretch out from approximately Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, California (see discussion on p. 23)
The illustrations are simple black-and-white drawings scattered throughout the book and while interesting, don't add that much to the narrative. I did appreciate the glossary, index, and solution page included at the end of the book.
Overall, it's an interesting read, but I'm not sure it will be as appealing as shorter books that focus on single topics and feature more colorful illustrations. Perhaps with an update it would retain its charm and relevancy in today's faster, more tech-savvy age.
Errata:
- On p. 24 (discussion of perfect numbers): the author added 1+5+7 and came up with 12, instead of 13.
interesting quotes:
"Leonhard Euler was perhaps the greatest mathematician of all time. He was born in Switzerland and died in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1783. Experts have estimated that Euler must have written close to 800 pages of mathematical discoveries every year for 60 years! According to William Dunham in his book The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities, 'In all of history, no mathematician has been able to think that fast; for that matter, most people can't even write that fast.' Although Euler was blind for the last 17 years of his life, he continued writing by dictation. He also continued to calculate complicated math problems in his head until the day he died..." (p. 31)
"There are so many cool patterns to make with the number nine, we could fill a book with them! It's no surprise that ancient Greeks considered the number nine to be the symbol for indestructibility. Why? Because nine always comes back to itself...whenever you multiply nine by another number - any other number - the sum of the digits in the answer always adds up to nine or another number whose digits added together equal nine." (p. 36)
"Some scholars suggest that the binary counting system was the first counting system of most cultures throughout the world." (p. 46)
"If you live in an area where fruit trees grow, take a look at the flowers on the tree. If it's the tree of an edible fruit, the flowers will always have five petals. When you connect the petal ends from point to point, you'll create a pentagonal shape. When these types of fruit ripen and are finally picked, you'll also see the old petals, or traces of them, at the bottom of the fruit." (p. 69)
"History has shown us that what starts out as a theory often creates a whole new science." (p. 75)
One example of how dated the book is and how much technology has changed our ability to do complex mathematical computations is shown in the section about the irrational number pi (π). The book states that pi has been "calculated to over 6 billion decimal places!" (p. 21) But this article shows that accomplishment has been dwarfed - it's now up to 31.4 trillion digits as of Pi Day (14 March) this year (2019).
Another example is the discussion about perfect numbers. Although the book states that there have been 32 perfect numbers identified, as of 2018, 51 perfect numbers have been discovered (see list here).
Ditto prime numbers (discussion on p. 40). The book states the largest prime number has 227,832 digits, but as of December 2019, the largest prime number found has "24,862,048 digits when written in base 10."
On the positive side, the book also offers various activities and 'magic' tricks for children to do, which help to illustrate a concept. It's appropriate for older elementary school-age and middle grade students, but is a bit long and I feel as though children will lose interest unless they are very intrigued by mathematical topics.
I really liked how the author showed how big a number with 1 billion decimal places can be, if written out. A number with a large-ish font (probably about font size 20) would stretch out from approximately Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, California (see discussion on p. 23)
The illustrations are simple black-and-white drawings scattered throughout the book and while interesting, don't add that much to the narrative. I did appreciate the glossary, index, and solution page included at the end of the book.
Overall, it's an interesting read, but I'm not sure it will be as appealing as shorter books that focus on single topics and feature more colorful illustrations. Perhaps with an update it would retain its charm and relevancy in today's faster, more tech-savvy age.
Errata:
- On p. 24 (discussion of perfect numbers): the author added 1+5+7 and came up with 12, instead of 13.
interesting quotes:
"Leonhard Euler was perhaps the greatest mathematician of all time. He was born in Switzerland and died in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1783. Experts have estimated that Euler must have written close to 800 pages of mathematical discoveries every year for 60 years! According to William Dunham in his book The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities, 'In all of history, no mathematician has been able to think that fast; for that matter, most people can't even write that fast.' Although Euler was blind for the last 17 years of his life, he continued writing by dictation. He also continued to calculate complicated math problems in his head until the day he died..." (p. 31)
"There are so many cool patterns to make with the number nine, we could fill a book with them! It's no surprise that ancient Greeks considered the number nine to be the symbol for indestructibility. Why? Because nine always comes back to itself...whenever you multiply nine by another number - any other number - the sum of the digits in the answer always adds up to nine or another number whose digits added together equal nine." (p. 36)
"Some scholars suggest that the binary counting system was the first counting system of most cultures throughout the world." (p. 46)
"If you live in an area where fruit trees grow, take a look at the flowers on the tree. If it's the tree of an edible fruit, the flowers will always have five petals. When you connect the petal ends from point to point, you'll create a pentagonal shape. When these types of fruit ripen and are finally picked, you'll also see the old petals, or traces of them, at the bottom of the fruit." (p. 69)
"History has shown us that what starts out as a theory often creates a whole new science." (p. 75)
August 3, 2010
This is the book that made me love math. In middle school, I couldn't be parted from it. I literally brought it everywhere with me.
September 10, 2010
A fun book to enjoy EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE MATH! I became the "FUN TEACHER" because I could do card tricks and number games that made Math Cool!
April 6, 2020
Our kiddo loves this book so much! He brings it with him all over the place and reads and re-reads all the pages.
March 1, 2023
I loved this book as a kid!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews