When we’re not busy tutoring math with kids, we like to read about math for fun and to stay sharp. (We like to read about other things too. We sometimes get good book recommendations from our students!)
We’ve previously posted some of our favorite math-related books with the hashtag #FridayReads on social media. So, for a #ThrowbackThursday #FridayReads, here’s a look back at some of them, and a call for your comments and suggestions, welcome any day of the week.
Nonfiction
Isaac Asimov On Numbers
Each chapter is its own essay about some numerical topic, such as the meaning of pi, different kinds of infinity, how we name very large and very small numbers, and how we measure mountains. A thought-provoking ramble through mathematical ideas from a prolific master.
The New York Times Book of Mathematics
A collection of articles from the archives of the Times, ranging from reports of mathematical breakthroughs to deeper looks at how math and data underpin our society. Sample stories: a 1994 solution to a cryptography challenge, a 2001 look at census-taking; a 1990 story on traffic patterns and how to improve them (or not), and a philosophical angle on whether chimpanzees can do math and which parts of the human brain are used for math. Also recommended: The New York Times Book of Science.
Mathematics Rebooted, by Lara Alcock
Starts with a simple picture of why 4 times 6 is the same amount as 6 times 4 -- that is, why four sixes is the same as six fours -- and continues from there to illustrate math not as received wisdom but as active puzzling out of patterns and amounts, always wondering what can be generalized. Plenty of visuals.
Signifiant Figures, by Ian Stewart
Profiles of important thinkers in math history, one per chapter, showing their ordinary lives and the extraordinary ideas they shared with us, and why those ideas mattered. Isaac Newton, Joseph Fourier, Cantor, Euler, and many less familiar names. Less than 300 pages, good for dipping into and reading whatever passage you light upon.
Naked Statistics, by Charles Whelan
If you feel like some nitty-gritty, try this overview of the statistical reasoning behind everyday research reports, survey results and data analysis.
Fiction
Fox Trot, by Bill Amend
There are many collections of Fox Trot comic strips in book form and pretty much any of them is likely to have a few math-related jokes courtesy of youngest Fox child Jason, who excels at math and sometimes helps his sister with her homework, for a price. Also plenty of general nerdery, along with ordinary family hilarity.
Half Magic, by Edward Eager
In this early/middle-grade chapter book, siblings on summer vacation find a magic token that grants them half of whatever they wish for. After some unfortunate errors, they gradually learn how to ask it for twice as much as whatever they want. It’s all in the phrasing….
If you’ve read any of these, what did you think? Have you found math in any unexpected places in books? Share your comments and math-related book recommendations -- books you liked and books you didn’t -- with us.
