Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews: Ian Stewart’s top 10 popular mathematics books | Books | theguardian.com
Finding Moonshine: To Infinity and beyond
Marcus Du Sautoy is at it again! He is the hero of Dara O’Briain’s School Of Hard Sums, and the BBC Series The Story of Maths.
One to watch out for…..
Finding Moonshine: To Infinity and beyond.
BBC News – Maths advantage for pupils who read for pleasure
The perfect blend of reading and maths is a good maths book!
I love reading – there is nothing better in this world than being engrossed in a good book. Now we have scientific evidence to support what many of us have long known to be true: reading develops not just your reading skills, but your maths skills too. So pick up a good book, and feel confident that you’re helping your trigonometry and algebra skills at the same time as enjoying a fabulous story!
BBC News – Maths advantage for pupils who read for pleasure.
Books: Alex’s Adventures in Numberland (Alex Bellos)
The first choice read for the Twitter Book #mathsbookclub, voted for by the twitter community, and to be reviewed in October 2013.
To find out more about #mathsbookclub go to:
Books: Fermat’s Last Theorem (Simon Singh)
Simon Singh is definitely the most readable of maths writers. He tells a story in such a way that really draws the reader in to the drama of the events, setting the context around the maths.
Go to Simon’s own website for further information here
Books: The Elephant In The Classroom (Jo Boaler)
Helping Children Learn and Love Maths
This book is a true reflection of how I think teaching should be approached.
“A teacher of mathematics has a great opportunity. If he fills his allotted time with drilling his students in routine operations he kills their interest, hampers their intellectual development, and misuses his opportunity. But if he challenges the curiosity of his students by setting them problems proportionate to their knowledge, and helps them to solve their problems with stimulating questions, he may give them a taste for, and some means of, independent thinking.” – Polya (The Elephant in the Classroom)
I strongly recommend this book to any maths teacher who needs to feel re-energised, and reminded of why we do this!
Books: The Magical Maze (Ian Stewart)
The Magical Maze
This book was my first ever purchase from the Popular Maths genre, in 1998. It is not the best-written, but it does have sentimental value for me.
“A businessman is someone who sees an opportunity for doing business where the rest of us see nothing: while we’re complaining that there’s no restaurant in the area, he’s organising a telephone pizza delivery service. Similarly, a mathematician is someone who sees opportunities for doing mathematics that the rest of us miss.” Ian Stewart, The Magical Maze.
Ian Stewart has gone from strength to strength however, and his later books are even better.
