Great Number Rumble, The
The Story of Math in Surprising Places
- Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
- Science Writing Award, American Institute of Physics
- Science in Society Book Award finalist
A plan to nix arithmetic + a math-crazy kid = an entertaining exposé on the wonder of numbers
When the schools in Jeremy’s town ban math, there are loud cheers from the kids. Even his teachers happily toss their textbooks. But Jeremy’s best friend Sam, a self-proclaimed mathnik, sets out to prove that math is not only important, but fun.
In the chapters that follow, Sam reveals math’s presence in everyday places, including sports (types of triangles determine how a bike functions), art (artist M.C. Escher combined math patterns with imagination), even in nature (ants instinctively calculate dead reckoning—a navigation tool also used by astronauts).
Meanwhile, surprising sidebars offer Jeremy’s thoughts on weird concepts from chaos theory to cash prizes for new prime numbers. In the end, Jeremy, his teachers, and even the Director of Education have to admit that school minus math equals all sorts of trouble.
Complete with dozens of amusing real-life math examples, brief bios of seven famous mathematicians, and fun illustrations and diagrams, this innovative introduction to all things arithmetic will win over even the most math-phobic readers.
Reviews:
“Classroom teachers could use this book to introduce new concepts and relate them to everyday objects to help students understand their significance...”
—School Library Journal, 06/07
“To help students see the world (sometimes) in mathematical terms is not an easy endeavor ... highly recommend as an excellent resource for this endeavor. It is conceptualized as and ... will be experienced by the curious student reader as a gold mine for places in our lives in which mathematical ideas are ‘surprisingly hidden.’ Highly Recommended.”
—CM Magazine, 04/07
“ ... a useful resource to help make math an exciting experience ... ”
—Quill & Quire, 05/07
“I would recommend this book for someone very interested in mathematics—or for whom math is very boring ... might just convince him or her that mathematics is useful!”
—Teaching Children Mathematics, 02/08
“… makes math both relevant and fun.”
—Professionally Speaking, 06/08