Mathematical Scandals

by Theoni Pappas

In this highly readable volume of vignettes of mathematical scandals and gossip, Theoni Pappas assembles 29 fascinating stories of intrigue and the bizarre — in short, the human background of the history of mathematics. Might a haberdasher have changed Einstein's life? Why was the first woman mathematician murdered? How come there's no Nobel Prize in mathematics?

Mathematics is principally about numbers, equations, and solutions, all of them precise and timeless. But, behind this arcane matter lies the sometimes sordid world of real people, whose rivalries and deceptions are at odds with the mathematician's reputation for clear thinking and scientific detachment.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Science

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 1997

About the author

Theoni Pappas is committed to giving mathematics greater exposure and making it more approachable. Pappas encourages mathematics teachers to share and develop new teaching ideas, methods, and approaches. Her gift to the Mathematics Education Trust (MET) helps teachers in grades 9—12 develop mathematics enrichment materials and lessons complementing a teaching unit implemented in the classroom.

Currently, Pappas is a mathematics educator and consultant. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.A. from Stanford University. She became a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1967, when she began teaching high school mathematics. Over the years, she has taught basic math, prealgebra, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, precalculus, and calculus.

Through her studies and research, Pappas has developed products that address mathematical ideas, and she has written numerous books, both for the general public and for educational audiences. Her books include More Joy of Mathematics; The Joy of Mathematics; Mathematics Appreciation; Math Talk; Greek Cooking for Everyone; Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales; Mathematical Footprints; The Magic of Mathematics; Math-A-Day; The Music of Reason; Mathematical Scandals; The Adventures of Penrose–the Mathematical Cat; and Math for Kids & Other People Too!
from http://www.nctm.org/resources/content...

Reviews

[Adam]

Reads like a book intended for junior high students. The scandals are all about mathematicians, not math per se. Wholly human things, nothing of particular interest. I was hoping the book would be about math scams or math conmen, but scandal is correct, it was about scandalous events in mathematicians' lives.

[Joseeey]

Lol another review said it left several questions unanswered... yeah that’s partially the point. They don’t have the answers. Nobody does. This was a good book if you want to see some issues that arises from the history of mathematics. Short stories.

[Carla T]

It’s written for kids not adults.

[elstaffe]

Had some interesting info about famous [Western] mathematicians that I'd never heard before, but boy do I wish this had been better edited.

[Minh Long]

Completely boring.
The book raised many questions, but did not answer any of it. The introduction of each story consisted of many characters that made me completely have no idea what it was talking about. The middle part told the story that was not related to the topic (personal life, goals, etc.), and the last part gave explaination about the mathematician's discovery, but only for math experts. Anyone who has not reviewed the discovery before (like Cantor's aleph-zero and countable infinity) will not likely understand it. Some parts, like Alan Turing's story, raised even more questions, but I totally did not know what was their purpose.

[Heather Clawson]

This book was weird. It's basically a collection of stories of famous mathematicians and their scandals. It's an interesting read but the fact that most of the scandals have nothing to do with mathematics (just the normal every day human vices) and the SIX SPELLING ERRORS I found made it a confusing read. (Six spelling errors - seriously people, where was this thing published??!?) Not bad if you have a couple of hours that need killing but don't expect a deep fulfilling read.

[Sarah]

I may be an English major...but I also have a major in math. If anyone has ever wanted to know the dirt on some of the famous mathematicians that have left piles of work for all of you students out there...this is the place to find it. It's a very short book with little two or three page stories about the "math people."
I really enjoyed it.... :)

[Brendan]

This books asks a lot of questions, but doesn't answer any. It seems minimally-sourced, and is peppered with spelling errors and head-scratching grammar. I like the ambition, the idea of sharing the human stories behind mathematics and its people, but ... this book did not accomplish that. It did, anyway, make me want to write a better one!

[Nicole]

An interesting collection of anecdotes & vignettes of mathematicians. It's nice to read about their lives and get to see them as people. I would like to incorporate them into my classroom somehow, but haven't worked that out yet.

[Edy]

Fun little book--I'm not a mathematician so some of the mathematical details went over my head. That being said, it was a very interesting read. The English teacher in me had a bit of trouble with some of the errors not caught by author or editor.

[Jilany]

to-read

[Martin Dunn]

A collection of tales about mathematicians. Light and readable - to the extent of not actually explaining the mathematics that is at the centre of the story.