Mathematics From Algebra to Algorithms: Adventures in Numbers

by Michael Willers

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Mathematics, Physics

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Matthew Pollak · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and easy read that I very much enjoyed. I would rate it higher if it for constant formatting, grammatical, and miscellaneous errors. One of the more egregious was the formatting of the square root sign. At one point there’s and equation 4=3•√ x+7-5. It took me a few re-reads to process that it’s meant to be 4=3•√( x+7)-5. As someone who loves math I found these errors disappointing, but they were minor enough that I could overlook them with little consequence.

[Tyler Sunahara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting book! I liked the profiles on the mathematicians, but wish there had been more history based instead of problem based. Also, there were a number of typos and grammatical errors that bothered me as it took me out of the book. Overall an interesting read for a math nerd!

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mathematical history was interesting, however, there were too many mathematical mistakes and lazy typing errors than would be liked in a published math textbook.

[Jamie is · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple weeks ago, I was feeling quite depressed. despite having a friend in town for a visit, I couldn’t shake it. We wandered into a Barnes and noble while waiting for our brunch seats, and I first browsed through some bargain books. I picked one up about paradoxes because it seemed like a fun brain tease to relax and wind down at the end of the day. I also opened this book, to a page where someone had left a note “you are someone’s sunshine”. My first instinct was to retch. What platitudes! You don’t know me! How’s that supposed to help? And then… a bit of fog lifted. In the midst of rhus, my constant and sometimes paralyzing awareness of the utter cruelty that exists in every si for person, of the inevitability of generations of people playing out the same horrors of war and abuse and manipulation and sadism, of the meaninglessness of life… I glimpsed an unexpected moment where someone out there threw their caring into the wind hoping it would reach someone and help them. I was that person In need of a touch of kindness, and I felt momentarily grateful.
I bought the book to keep a reminder of that kindness and how it’s present in all of us… along with the capacity for great evil.
The actual content of this book though, I’ll rate two stars as it only covers algebraic concepts, doesn’t get too theoretical, or use interesting examples. But the author’s passion for this subject shines through.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed understanding the background of some mathematics we use in everyday life.

[Šarūnas Paplauskas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun read but very disorganised. Would be much better if the author established a better structure to the lessons in the book.

[Eduardo Hoppenstedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply beautiful brief and enjoyable book