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No Calculator, No Problem! Mastering Mental Math
Listening Length: 5 hours and 46 minutes
No calculator? No problem! Whether a listener is prepping for a standardized test or just trying to figure out the check, mathematician Dr. Arthur Benjamin will teach listeners the fundamentals of mental addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. From there, listeners will turn to the art of "guess-timation" for problems that don't require an exact answer. Listeners will learn:
Tricks and techniques to arrive at answers for large problems listeners can't do in their heads.
How to effectively memorize important digits, such as phone numbers, credit card pins, or the dreaded numerical call-in conference passcode.
Little-known math techniques, including over-subtraction and the cashier's method.
Mastery multiplication tables through 20 and multiply a pair of 2-digit numbers.
How to think of numbers from left to right and hear the numbers without the need to visualize anything.
Tricks for adding and subtracting numbers as high as 4-digits and multiplying 2-digit numbers-without a calculator.
How to rely heavily on mental estimation and tricks for converting fractions and decimals.
With Professor Benjamin's engaging, fun-filled lessons, listeners soon find themselves amazing other people and, perhaps more important, themselves. Examples included in the lessons use real-world applications that apply to shopping, banking, tipping, cooking, gaming, gambling, and sports statistics. The skills learned in No Calculator? No Problem!: Mastering Mental Math will teach listeners the tools necessary to excel in school, personal finance, work, and life. Learn to allocate spending, manage time, and master life like a math whiz.
No calculator? No problem! Whether a listener is prepping for a standardized test or just trying to figure out the check, mathematician Dr. Arthur Benjamin will teach listeners the fundamentals of mental addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. From there, listeners will turn to the art of "guess-timation" for problems that don't require an exact answer. Listeners will learn:
Tricks and techniques to arrive at answers for large problems listeners can't do in their heads.
How to effectively memorize important digits, such as phone numbers, credit card pins, or the dreaded numerical call-in conference passcode.
Little-known math techniques, including over-subtraction and the cashier's method.
Mastery multiplication tables through 20 and multiply a pair of 2-digit numbers.
How to think of numbers from left to right and hear the numbers without the need to visualize anything.
Tricks for adding and subtracting numbers as high as 4-digits and multiplying 2-digit numbers-without a calculator.
How to rely heavily on mental estimation and tricks for converting fractions and decimals.
With Professor Benjamin's engaging, fun-filled lessons, listeners soon find themselves amazing other people and, perhaps more important, themselves. Examples included in the lessons use real-world applications that apply to shopping, banking, tipping, cooking, gaming, gambling, and sports statistics. The skills learned in No Calculator? No Problem!: Mastering Mental Math will teach listeners the tools necessary to excel in school, personal finance, work, and life. Learn to allocate spending, manage time, and master life like a math whiz.
6 pages, Audible Audio
Published September 17, 2019
60 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 21, 2022
Thank you GR friend Phoenix for recommending the audio “No Calculator, No Problem! Mastering Mental Math” which is only on audible. This is a 6 hour listen that can and should be listened to a chapter at a time. It takes a bit to digest some of his handy dandy math short cuts. I was pleased to realize I had already employed some of his methods. Some of the ideas took a while to gel in my mind. It’s definitely worth downloading and giving a quick listen.
October 2, 2021
This is a very hard listen, but I enjoyed every bit of it. If you want to solidify your reputation as a hardcore nerd / borderline rainman prodigy, this is the book! I am already impressing my friends with my ability to guess cube roots of six digit numbers (but only if they are perfect cubes :)).
It is gentle to people who missed math at school, and sometimes you think - "meh, I could already do that", but then it goes to the depths where I have not been before :)
It is gentle to people who missed math at school, and sometimes you think - "meh, I could already do that", but then it goes to the depths where I have not been before :)
October 2, 2023
Some useful tips for mental mathematics.
December 27, 2021
This is an interesting book, full of useful tips and mathematical shortcuts. But it is definitely unlike other non-fiction books.
I'm used to listening to books at double, even triple speed, gleaning some interesting nuggets of information along the way. You can't do that with this book. I listened at single speed and had to pause frequently and rewind occasionally.
This is less of a book and more of a course. Perhaps it would be better as a website or app that can teach and drill the user.
Although it is interesting to imagine being able to, say, multiply several two-digit numbers quickly in your head, you won't actually be able to do that unless you practice, practice, practice. And then if you don't use these skills in a while, they'd be easy to forget. So don't even bother starting this audiobook unless you're ready to commit to hours of practice.
I imagine there are two audiences for this book: those who love doing math for fun, and educators who want to make their students work through exercises like these in order to be more efficient at basic math. If you simply like enjoying learning new things in general, this likely isn't for you.
I go through about a hundred audiobooks a year. It's rare for my to abandon a book. I got about halfway through this before realizing it was taking more time and effort than I realized and - since I didn't intend to keep practicing for the rest of my life - it wouldn't provide much value.
This could be a great book, but only for specific audiences.
I'm used to listening to books at double, even triple speed, gleaning some interesting nuggets of information along the way. You can't do that with this book. I listened at single speed and had to pause frequently and rewind occasionally.
This is less of a book and more of a course. Perhaps it would be better as a website or app that can teach and drill the user.
Although it is interesting to imagine being able to, say, multiply several two-digit numbers quickly in your head, you won't actually be able to do that unless you practice, practice, practice. And then if you don't use these skills in a while, they'd be easy to forget. So don't even bother starting this audiobook unless you're ready to commit to hours of practice.
I imagine there are two audiences for this book: those who love doing math for fun, and educators who want to make their students work through exercises like these in order to be more efficient at basic math. If you simply like enjoying learning new things in general, this likely isn't for you.
I go through about a hundred audiobooks a year. It's rare for my to abandon a book. I got about halfway through this before realizing it was taking more time and effort than I realized and - since I didn't intend to keep practicing for the rest of my life - it wouldn't provide much value.
This could be a great book, but only for specific audiences.
January 23, 2020
Art Benjamin does an incredible job unlocking mental arithmetic through audiobook format. His voice reminds me of Wallace Shawn from the Princess Bride and I half expected him to say "You fool! You fell for the classic blunder of forgetting to carry the one!" Regardless, the useful information for me didn't really start until an hour in but it ramps up quickly after that. There were several moments where I couldn't help but wonder why arithmetic isn't taught this way. Also, I don't think this a passive read by any means. I couldn't drive my car, pause, do 3 digit division, and resume the audiobook without putting others in danger. I would highly recommend this to anyone that works with numbers and very highly recommend this to any math teacher. It'd make a good gift if you'd like to thank someone who makes numbers less cryptic.
April 1, 2021
Really fun and also makes you want to do math if you’re into these sort of things
December 27, 2021
Learned so many new, neat shortcuts in this book. Restored my confidence in maths before I start more serious studies. Fantastic work, wish I'd known this as a child.
January 21, 2024
I confess that I was unable to follow along with this course because of my handicap. I have a damaged short-term memory. I suspected I would not get much out of this particular course since it would probably depend of keeping a few key numbers in mind while calculating in one's head. I am unable to do this any more. I had to give this up after the first lesson. I will not return to this audiobook.
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October 22, 2022It was good practice for me. Sadly I do usually rely on a calculator. I enjoyed his goofy dad jokes and his enthusiasm is contagious. The chapter about memorizing long strings of numbers at first struck me as silly, but then I realized how useful the technique could be.
March 22, 2025
Some chapters are better than others. I would strongly advise you to not try to listen to this book like you do other lectures or audiobooks. It takes a lot of concentration the ENTIRE audiobook. I do not have time to listen to these and not do something else such as clean etc. Also several later sections require you to write things down. Lots of "pause now" times but I am often driving or doing something. I enjoyed some sections but not others. The professor is super enthusiastic and I appreciated that!
December 28, 2024
Mental math isn’t really my strong suit, but I decided to give it a shot, and it turns out to be pretty fascinating when you take the time to engage with it. The audiobook was great (though I had to hit the 10-second rewind button quite a lot) it was enjoyable, and a lot to take in from.
March 5, 2020
Fun math... I love numbers, so it was an easy read.
September 28, 2021
Mind blown.
July 6, 2024
Bok om hovudrekning, rekneartane, korleis ein kan rekne raskare. Kjend stoff for dei fleste lærarar kanskje, og for andre er eg ikkje sikker på om dette er så interessant?
April 9, 2025
A few helpful tricks here and there but nothing special really.
December 23, 2024
Why didn't they teach any of this in school? This is all way better and faster than anything I ever learned as a kid. And a kid to do it. Invaluable for every day life. Once you learn this stuff you'll realize how often you use these number tricks and you'll be impressively fast
April 29, 2021
A very interested read.
Surprising but not surprising that I already do a lot of the tips and tricks Art has for doing mental math (add, subtract, multiply, divide) on one, two, three and four digit numbers.
I really liked the idea of using sounds in lieu of digits and memorizing or remembering numbers based on a word or set of words that match the digits. I didn't know that was a thing. I think I'll go back and learn it.
Surprising but not surprising that I already do a lot of the tips and tricks Art has for doing mental math (add, subtract, multiply, divide) on one, two, three and four digit numbers.
I really liked the idea of using sounds in lieu of digits and memorizing or remembering numbers based on a word or set of words that match the digits. I didn't know that was a thing. I think I'll go back and learn it.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews