Sunday, October 6, 2019

9 Years of Books...



Just biding time lately, watching the current pretend Administration/regime implode, crash, self-immolate, and perhaps destroy forever Vladimir Putin’s sweet, sweet dream of defeating America without ever firing a shot (…but perhaps I’ve said too much).

Anyway, just a filler post today, again recommending books for the popular math crowd. Over the 9+ years of this blog I’ve recommended a LOT of books and will just re-list here my eclectic favorites, through 2018, among 100s, for any who may have missed some (in alphabetical order by author):

Here’s Looking At You and
The Grapes of Math  — both by Alex Bellos

Single Digits   — Marc Chamberland

How Not To Be Wrong  — Jordan Ellenberg

Mathematics Without Apologies  — Michael Harris

Foolproof  — Brian Hayes

When Einstein Walked With Gödel — Jim Holt

The Prime Number Conspiracy  — ed. by Thomas Lin

Weapons of Math Destruction  — Cathy O’Neil

Math With Bad Drawings  — Ben Orlin

Things To Make and Do In the Fourth Dimension  — Matt Parker

Genius At Play  — Siobhan Roberts

The Mathematics Lover’s Companion  — Edward Scheinerman

Exact Thinking In Demented Times  — Karl Sigmund

The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets"  — Simon Singh

The Joy of X  — Steven Strogatz

The Outer Limits of Reason  — Noson Yanofsky

Will also toss in Judea Pearl’s The Book of Why which I’m just now reading (originally published in 2018, but newly out now in paperback).
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Oddly, the above list does not include a single volume from any of my 3 FAVORITE math popularizers: Keith Devlin, Ian Stewart, and Richard Elwes. But I certainly recommend anything from those three writers (all of whom, interestingly, are of British origin).

Lastly, for sheer perseverance and a unique contribution to popular math, I’ll cite Mircea Pitici’s anthology series, “The Best Writing In Mathematics” with annual volumes from 2010 to the present. It is a monumental effort (especially since Mircea has his own life to attend to!) to sort through the countless math offerings available each year and thoughtfully choose the selections for these collections. Always a wide range, and always some surprises.

I think almost all of the above are now available in paperback and/or might be found in a well-supplied local used bookshop, as well as certainly online or through your local bookstore. So read away....


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