Sự kì diệu của toán học

by Theoni Pappas

Part of the joy of mathematics is that it is everywhere-in soap bubbles, electricity, da Vinci's masterpieces, even in an ocean wave. Written by the well-known mathematics teacher consultant, this volume's collection of over 200 clearly illustrated mathematical ideas, concepts, puzzles, and games shows where they turn up in the "real" world. You'll find out what a googol is, visit hotel infinity, read a thorny logic problem that was stumping them back in the 8th century.

THE JOY OF MATHEMATICS is designed to be opened at random…it's mini essays are self-contained providing the reader with an enjoyable way to explore and experience mathematics at its best.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Science, Education

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

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

[Nico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adult math geeks will find this book too simplistic. However, if your relationship with math is like mine, this book has the potential to totally open up your understanding. I failed algebra and geometry and promptly decided that I didn't give a damn about math in high school. It felt too arbitrary and rigid. This author's math books have brought me awe and genuine pleasure, and I've even recovered a little bit of math confidence. The book is written in short chapters; readers are encouraged to skip around and go in any order they'd like. This means that if you don't fully grasp a concept, it doesn't hinder your ability to move on to the next chapter. When I didn't understand an idea, I could mull it over for a while, read other chapters and come back to it later. It's absolutely ideal for unschoolers and homeschoolers!

[Miao · Rating 3 out of 5]

brief snippits of history and application that gave a wide survey of the more interesting and accessible areas of the field.. good resource for general interest and finding topics 2 read more about.. also lots of beautiful diagrams! its 2020 babey we love math now

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

FYI, this won't make you appreciate the joy of math unless you already do. I "liked" math in school, but I guess I don't have a mind for math. This book just gives you a brief description of myriad mathematical marvels such as the patterns, the equivalent of mathematical optical illusions, puzzles, riddles, "fascinating" tricks like "If you take any two numbers, and you do this, then this, then this, isn't it amazing how they eventually turn into a palindrome? " Well, no, actually, I couldn't care less. However, I do recommend this to people who have a natural fascination with patterns and riddles (and the history of the number system), but this won't convert any literary-minded person into delighting in math. I haven't given up yet, though. I think I'll find a book that inspires me; there are plenty of them on my to-read list.

[Carlos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book was a huge disappointment. After reading it I can only describe it as a math coffee book, as in a book that you pick up, peruse briefly and put down. This makes for an extremely unpleasant reading experience if one tries to read it from cover to cover, as any reader who was been unfortunate enough to unwarily read a coffee book will confirm. The book has no cohesiveness whatsoever from chapter to chapter and the “chapters” are usually little more than a page and usually with unnecessarily large figures. I fully understand what the author was trying to do, expose the general reader to several mildly interesting problems in the history of math and hope that one of those will get the reader interested enough to read a book about that aspect in particular. However, despite introducing some interesting stories about the parallel development of math in the other cultures, like the Chinese man who discovered “Pascal’s” triangle 300 years before Pascal’s birth, this book is rather unreadable.

[Harry Hoàng Trần · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's brilliant. From being a hater of mathematics as a high school student, I decided to give math a chance with this book I came across in a local bookstore. As I thought every subject at school could be much better taught in a more captivating way for the students, I was right after all.
I read the first half of the book in the most uncomfortable way possible. So many things about math were in there. And my math teachers throughout middle and high school seemed to make mathematics have a bad lasting impression on me all the way to 12th grade now. Therefore the first half was the hardest to read.
I stopped reading the book for a month after that first half and then came back a week ago. It was fantastic. The contents just drew me in so much. I felt like I was in love...with Math...for perhaps the first time in my life. I finished it today. And I gotta say, it was the best decision ever to take this book off the bookshelf and walked out of the bookstore with it.

[Ha Vu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Niềm vui Toán học (The Joy of Mathematics) là cuốn sách gồm rất nhiều fun facts, lịch sử ra đời và định nghĩa một cách đơn giản các định lý, hiện tượng Toán học phổ thông mà hầu như tất cả chúng ta đều biết đến bề mặt chứ không hiểu đến chiều sâu. Chữ cuốn sách này rất to, có hình minh họa sinh động, đúng tính chất vui vẻ sảng khoái của việc học Toán lấy vui chứ không vì nghĩa vụ.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of mathematical topics from topology, algebra, combinatorics, etc. all at a very fundamental level. Some are framed as problems with solutions in the back. This would make a nice book for a middle school or secondary school that shows evidence of a growing interest in mathematics. Anyone with a passing but not technical interest may enjoy perusing it.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is composed of short explanations about math concepts in nature. The same author writes the 'Penrose, Mathematical Cat' books. My question remains: How does one make math discoveries? Science discoveries are well documented; did I miss the majesty of math discoveries along the way? Theoni Pappas is certainly changing books about math! I am hoping my grandson will someday find this book as fascinating as he does Penrose; at two, he has not understood the math but he loves these books about a mathematical cat for some reason.


I am reading this book again as a 'short stories in math' book. Scientists always seem to be sharing interesting tidbits of history about concepts but my colleagues in math rarely do this professionally. How interesting it is to see the 'pi' relationships outside of the circle. As much as I love learning, I feel deprived that I missed so many exciting links of mathematics. Watching a PBS special recently on fractals sparked my interest in patterns. Let the blind see! Way to go Theoni!!

[Alex Kartelias · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish someone would have shown me these things when I was young: would have made high school a lot more bearable. After reading this, I know right off the bat I have no interest in doing math other than for the sake of contemplating these beautiful patterns that show up in nature from the Platonic Solids, Magic Squares, Golden Ratio, Fibonacci sequence, etc. It's amazing how none of these beautiful things get talked about in school and I wish it could be changed. This books proves that mathematics is not for elites and is available to all who are patient and have an open mind.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

everyone laughs at this title on my bookshelf

[Clyde Macalister · Rating 4 out of 5]

I inaugurate this review by pointing to its one short-coming: for a book that presents itself as "get your feet wet" intro to mathematics, a few of its pages assume the reader has acquaintance with the specialized jargon of mathematics more than seems warranted to me. The problem merely punctuates a page here and there throughout the book and does not permeate the whole thing; but occasionally the author could have afforded some footnotes denoting the mathematical definitions of some specific terminology where she did not.

(A bit of context here: I have incrementally developed a budding interest in mathematics over the decade preceding this reveiw, prior to which I have groaned over the mere thought of the field. My newfound interest in the discipline lies in its coextensive associations with philosophy and science, these having a longer resume in my intellectual fixations. But given the heavy abstractness of mathematics, my present approach is to slam myself with many introductions to general mathematics until the constant influx of introductory reading removes the apparent difficulties of more advanced knowledge.)


That's the only drawback; otherwise great stuff here. The piecemeal, bite-sized format with large text, illustrations, and "chapters" that are mostly one-page each (the few larger ones being 2 to 5 pages), supplies a great way to ease into the subject. I look forward to reading Pappas's other works in rapid succession in the near future.

[Fenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is simply a bunch of wonderful things about math. If you hate math, you wont like this book. If you do, I highly recommend this.

This book goes over things like The Fibonacci sequence, how computer logic works, Moebius strips, and even things that may not be usually associated with math, like optical illusions. did you know you can make straight lines look wavy with 45 degree angles and lines that are placed unevenly? While this book has some great information, it does also have some fun things as well. For example, if you were in charge of a hotel infinitely large, infinite rooms are reserved, and a bus of infinite people arrived, what would you do to fit them? There's even some things like mazes, but ones that cross themselves. Challenging but fun too!

[Karri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aivan liian monta eri aihetta, jotka kaikki käsitellään ainoastaan pinnallisesti. Kirjassa on joitain asiavirheitä ja suoranaisia latteuksia.

Varmasti hyvä kirja yläkouluikäiselle matikkaintoilijalle tai vanhemmalle, joka tietää aihepiiristä vain vähän.

Herran vuonna 2023 youtube on korvannut tarpeen tällaiselle kirjalle, enkä ymmärrä miksi tämä on näinkin hyvin arvosteltu täällä goodreadsissa.

Terra Cognitan tyylin mukaan kirjan ulkoasu on ruma.

[Tsering · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has some great information on Mathematics, that's probably overlooked during school.
You can read it anytime and it won't bore you down.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is packed with tons of knowledge about math. I learned quite a bit along the way, even though I didn't understand some of it. Along with information this book is full of math puzzles.

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this during my days of math, taking courses required by the computer science (CS) major and enjoying them more than my CS courses.

[Kimberly Hallahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a long time to finish this book. Several of the challenges were too much for me.

[Lamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

you love to read it

[Loc Ngo Lam Gia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nhiều mẫu chuyện nhỏ về toán học, rất thú vị với những ai yêu thích toán học

[Brian Sison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not great. This books has tiny little snippets of fascinating concepts... each 2-4 page section could be elaborated into a full book. Coming from a mathematical background, I found little to no material in here new or surprising. But this book would be good for a non-math-nerd. It has enough data to present ideas simply, yet concisely; and it doesn't delve disgustingly deep into the minutiae of the math.

[Skedatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would concur with another reviewer. It would be an awesome bathroom book. The concepts are self-contained with a little historical background all on 1-2 pages.

I wish that I had been introduced to math this way instead of as an isolated subject. But now (and I am not a math person) I actually can understand why certain things work the way that they do because it is presented in context.

It is math for someone who prefers to read.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected this to be better. And perhaps it would have been if I didn't already know much of the math bits that Pappas shares. None go into detail, so it's really just an introduction to a variety of math related topics. Good for someone interested in math, but hasn't done much reading in it yet.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a lot of fun little facts and ideas. A wonderful introduction to the cool side of math. If more people found math through books like this instead of through flashcards and "mad minute" worksheets, I think Barbie would have never coined the sentiment "Math is hard."

I would give it to a 10 year old to interest them in math.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some poor editing here and there, and the book is starting to look dated, but for the most part my two sons, 13 and 10, and my husband, really enjoyed this. I read a couple pages each night; most entries are about a page long. Pappas covers tidbits on the history of math, famous equations and discoveries, and famous math puzzles. It was a fun and convenient enrichment for my boys who love math.

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who works with teenagers, I am always looking for new ways to introduce STEM topics into bite sized bits of conversation. The essays are brief, the math is not too difficult and the topics diverse enough for me to be able to use it year round. The bit about the infinite area of a snowflake, hell, we can talk about that during this weeks' crafts.

[Jun Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mặc dù chỉ giới thiệu đơn giản về ứng dụng (chủ yếu là hình học) của toán học lên tất cả các lĩnh vực của cuộc sống, nhiều nhất là kiến trúc, tưởng chừng không liên quan như âm nhạc cũng có. Chọn 1 chủ đề có thể được coi là xuyên suốt cuốn sách, thì là hình chữ nhật vàng. Nhưng xét trên đối tượng mà cuốn sách hướng tới là thanh thiếu niên, dẫn truyện khá khô và nội dung thì hơi cao tay.

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be GREAT for math lovers--I'm just barely hanging on. It's a collection of short factoids on everything from fractals to Fibonacci. I'm enjoying those parts of it that I can actually understand.

[Shadi khadivi · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty cool

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

No great epiphanies, unless this is your first math-for-fun book. Short (mostly one page) explanations of topics and some puzzles and problems to work out.