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HOW TO BAKE PI

AN EDIBLE EXPLORATION OF THE MATHEMATICS OF MATHEMATICS

A sharp, witty book to press on students and even the teachers of math teachers.

An original book using recipes to explain sophisticated math concepts to students and even the math-phobic.

In a chapter on generalization, Cheng (Mathematics/Univ. of Sheffield and Univ. of Chicago) begins with a recipe she adapted to produce a cake that was vegan as well as gluten-, sugar-, and dairy-free, thus extending the recipe’s usefulness to serve more people. A chapter on axiomatization describes the difference between basic ingredients and things you can make with basic ingredients (e.g., marmalade). Math uses basic ingredients—axioms—that are assumed to be true and proofs that use hard logic to derive new truths. That’s what math is all about, writes the author; it is different from science, which gathers evidence to draw conclusions. By this time, Cheng has introduced readers to number systems, groups and sets, algebra, and topology. She also discusses internal vs. external motivation. In cooking, this is the difference between looking at what is on the shelves and figuring out how to use it in a recipe you invent (internal motivation) versus having a recipe in mind and gathering all the ingredients you need to make it (external). The author laments the way math is often taught, with the teacher providing a problem to solve and students finding the correct answer. She is strongly internally motivated in the pursuit of her specialty, category theory. She calls it the mathematics of mathematics, a field that seeks the most abstract generalizable concepts in relation to the worlds of mathematical objects. Cheng explains how category theory works by emphasizing contexts, relationships, structure, and universal properties, giving examples. The reading is tougher going here, probably because readers are in a state she describes as believing what she is teaching but not fully understanding it. However, Cheng is such a gifted teacher, readers will want to dive in again.

A sharp, witty book to press on students and even the teachers of math teachers.

Pub Date: May 5, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-465-05171-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Basic Books

Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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