Unlock the Secrets of Mathematics with Arthur Benjamin's 'The Magic of Math', 3rd Edition

Itziar: El libro está en perfectas condiciones, venía forrado y con las marcas de haber estado en una biblioteca, lo que hizo que me gustase mucho más su historia. Tarda en llegar cuanto se indica pero merece la pena, volveré pronto a comprar a esta misma tienda, me ha encantado.

Spain on May 16, 2021

Thomas McGrail: Makes math fun. There was a lot of information I didn't know and new ways of looking at some things I did.

Canada on Feb 20, 2021

Linda: So easy to read, I be saying daaaaamn, through out, and.... I looove math. I’d find myself smiling from time to time because of great discoveries and plus the author is so funny 🤣 I love math, I look at math problems now and I’m like 🙄 where else at first I’d feel my heart sink , so definitely get it, if it was food I’d say it’s delicious

I went through the book first without trying to solve anything, just to try and get what he’s trying to have me understand. Hehe I read a math book like a novel 🤪 then went the second time to work it out with him as I went along. Calculus be a regular meal now hellooo?!😊

United States on Nov 16, 2020

JOSTEIN HAUGLAND: Interesting book

Canada on Oct 21, 2020

Merb L Ti: I'm not a trained mathematician, but I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Sometimes I do wish he had had the space to flesh out the examples with more intermediary steps, but still, I find this book useful as much as it is enjoyable. He's made math *fun* and exciting—wish more maths profs were as excited and happy about numbers as Arthur Benjamin. I'll say this, you will need a cursory familiarity with basic algebra and it helps to have been exposed to both statistics and calculus. There's something for everyone at some level and I think he's done well on delivering on that end.

United States on Nov 01, 2019

S. Stevenson: This is the way a math book should be written: The hard-core number stuff is mixed up with historical notes, funny anecdotes, and extra details, but never to the point where the content goes off the rails. Like any math book, it requires the reader to actually think through the (always short) calculations, better yet, to try them yourself on paper. The result is a book that is not exactly casual reading, but if you're willing to put in some effort, richly rewards you with insights I wish I had had before. Throughout, the author's passion and enthusiasm are clearly visible, and even infectious at times. Highly recommended.

Germany on May 14, 2017

Twlb: I love this book, and my 13yr old son loves it. He is far ahead of his class in math, and I've always been frustrated, trying to challenge him and meet his love for math without pushing him even further ahead and causing more boredom in class.

This book is perfect. It is highly challenging, but in a way that is far different from what is taught in school. Lots of fun number tricks, like how to quickly compute the square of any 2-digit number in your head. My son has been into magic, and the author compares math to magic, which is really inviting and accessible.

With that said, my son is really excited by it, but I was lost after a few chapters. It goes very deeply into mathematical ideas, and is only for those who truly enjoy this.

FYI, the other great outlet we found for him was this book of 3D Sodoku puzzles: 3D Sudoku

United States on Sep 19, 2016

Judie amsel: To say my math skills are severely limited (I wasn’t able to take classes beyond first year algebra and plain geometry) would be an understatement. But I have a nephew, Elijah, who recently turned nine who knows more than I ever did and, probably, more than most adults I know. When he goes to a friend’s house and brings something to play with, it’s usually a math book. When I saw a blurb for THE MAGIC OF MATH by Arthur Benjamin, I thought he might find it challenging and interesting. I don’t know about the challenging part, but he found it very interesting. One of his teachers told me he did one of the problems on the board and, when she had trouble keeping up with him, he brought the book to school to show it to her.
I recently visited him and interviewed him about what he thought of the book. These are his responses:
I think it is a really interesting book. It gives theorems and then proves them. It gives a number of math tricks and it tells you how it happened and why and why you always get the same answer.
It also has a thing called “asides.” They are aside from the real mathematics. They are words related to the topic and are really interesting.
I’d...

United States on May 17, 2016

G. Sivertsen: The Magic of math...indeed an enthralling approach to what can be seen as a magical subject. This is one of the oldest developed subjects of study we have and yet many of us tend to avoid it...when it ought to be embraced. We exist in a mathematical universe and a little undserstanding makes life more interesting than it otherwise may appear.

United Kingdom on Mar 23, 2016

Sasha Alyson: "Here are some fun facts about ellipses," writes Arthur Benjamin.

By now, you should know if you're likely to like this book or hate it. Benjamin clearly loves numbers, math, and anything related. Most of his chapters explore one narrow topic -- Pascal's triangle, the golden ratio, or the Fibonacci series, for example -- beginning with the oft-repeated basics, but quickly moving into detail and surprises. Of ellipses: If you have a pool table shaped like an ellipse and you put a ball at one foci, you can hit it in any direction and after it bounces off the wall, it will pass through the other foci. Occasionally he gets into a level of detail that I didn't find especially interesting, but others may. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much.

United States on Nov 08, 2015