Strength In Numbers: Discovering the Joy and Power of Mathematics in Everyday Life

by Sherman K. Stein

An Easygoing, Highly Entertaining Refresher on all the Math You'll Ever Need.

What do two goats and a car have to do with making good decisions? Was the golden ratio used to build the Great Pyramid of Khufu? Can it be that some numbers are unmistakably "hot," while others are inherently "cool"? With his infectiously enthusiastic and engaging style, award-winning teacher and author Sherman K. Stein offers a new appreciation for mathematics, from the beauty of its logic ("as inevitable and memorable as a Mozart symphony") to its amazing power and pervasiveness in our lives. Requiring no math knowledge beyond basic arithmetic and high school geometry, Strength in Numbers is an enlightening introduction to all the math you'll ever need.

Genres: Mathematics

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 23, 1996

Reviews

[Nancy]

Chapter 10, What's In It For Me? is worth the price of the book. "The more mathematics a person knows, the more choices that person will have." The author analyzed 121 million jobs (from 1992) and categorized them by the level of math required. They all required at least a 4th-6th grade level. One-third required math through calculus. Very illuminating."

[Valerie]

This book is well written, and I use it in my classes.

[Aloke]

Good tricks for teaching kids about fractions and negative numbers.