Description
Book SynopsisEmbark on a playful mathematical tour, aided by Lisl Gaal's illustrations of familiar scenes and whimsical triggers for the imagination. Along the way, find fruit stands arranged using polynomial multiplication, checkerboard tablecloths sewed with patterns of primes in a two-dimensional number system, and deceptive cats revealing that simple counting is not always so simple.
Trade ReviewThe book is well written and easy to follow. The mathematics is easily accessible to a variety of readers. The highlight of the book is how the use of a simple illustration can jump start the imagination and provide a basis for the mathematical concepts. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in recreational mathematics." — Douglas Puharic, Mathematics Teacher
"The art is colorful and whimsical. Merry-go-rounds, fruit stands, dogs, and more are used to clarify the complex plane, Markov chains, generalized approaches to volume, and concepts up to basic calculus. Each chapter is an overview illustration supported by a few pages of text and additional figures. The material is ready for the reader seeking introduction to these ideas without rigor, or as classroom capsules to enliven presentation to high school and first-year college audiences." — Tom Schulte,
MAA ReviewsTable of Contents
- Counting
- The Pythagorean theorem
- The volume of a pyramid
- The area of a circle
- Archimedes's proof for the volume of a sphere
- Pascal's triangle
- Gaussian integers
- Permutations
- The mathematics of probability and Markov processes
- Desargue's theorem
- Seven circle theorem
- Calculus
- Multiplying ordinals
- A daughter's perspective
- About the author.
