The Magic of Math: Solving for x and Figuring Out Why - Hardcover

Benjamin, Arthur

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465054722 ISBN 13: 9780465054725

Publisher: Basic Books, 2015

Synopsis

A New York Times bestseller The Magic of Math is the math book you wish you had in school. Using a delightful assortment of examples,from ice cream scoops and poker hands to measuring mountains and making magic squares,this book empowers you to see the beauty, simplicity, and truly magical properties behind those formulas and equations that once left your head spinning. You'll learn the key ideas of classic areas of mathematics like arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, but you'll also have fun fooling around with Fibonacci numbers, investigating infinity, and marveling over mathematical magic tricks that will make you look like a math genius!A mathematician who is known throughout the world as the mathemagician," Arthur Benjamin mixes mathematics and magic to make the subject fun, attractive, and easy to understand. In The Magic of Math , Benjamin does more than just teach skills: with a tip of his magic hat, he takes you on as his apprentice to teach you how to appreciate math the way he does. He motivates you to learn something new about how to solve for x, because there is real pleasure to be found in the solution to a challenging problem or in using numbers to do something useful. But what he really wants you to do is be able to figure out why, for that's where you'll find the real beauty, power, and magic of math.If you are already someone who likes math, this book will dazzle and amuse you. If you never particularly liked or understood math, Benjamin will enlighten you and,with a wave of his magic wand,turn you into a math lover.

About this title

About the Author

Arthur Benjamin holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, where he has taught since 1989. He is a noted mathemagician," known for being able to perform complicated computations in his head. He is the author, most recently, of The Secrets of Mental Math, and has appeared on The Today Show and The Colbert Report. Benjamin has been profiled in such publications as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Scientific American, Discover, and Wired.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0465054722
• ISBN 13: 9780465054725
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336