Books for Math Lovers

I asked for book recommendations from our listeners on our Facebook page and our Facebook group, and we were flooded with responses.

We were. Hundreds of people had something to say. The conversation is still going on.

But I wanted to share a couple on the air because that’s what we do. We recommend good books, right?

David Craig and Craig Elfer has both mentioned books related to math. David mentioned a book called Fermat’s Enigma by Simon Singh.

David writes, “It’s a little math-heavy, but an engrossing read. It’s about the recent solving of Fermat’s last theorem, and it goes all the way back to Pythagoras and beyond to set up the story.”

David says, “There are places where your eyes may glaze over if you’re not really up on your math.”

But it’s worth the effort, and you can probably skip over parts of it.

And Greg Elfers recommends a book called In Pursuit of the Unknown, 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart.

Greg writes, mathematics is a language much like English, but perhaps unlike English, if you cannot find the right words, it is difficult to move forward.

This is a story, no, 17 stories of how finding the right mathematical word, in quotes, changed the world.

My gosh, they’ve just about got me persuaded. They’re good. Wow.

Well, I’ve added so many of the books on these conversation threads to my Amazon wish list. I’m hoping to have a very good Christmas this year.

Well, now give me those titles again. They are Pursuit of the Unknown by Ian Stewart and Fairmat’s Enigma by Simon Singh.

Okay. If you’d like to add your book recommendations, look for the thread on Facebook or send us an email to words@waywordradio.org.