-Explores quantitative thinking using mathematical proofs and anecdotes from well-known mathematicians. Discusses all that needs to be known; the lay of the land; why simple does not mean easy to do; gamesmanship; safe landings; believe it or not; science, math . . . and baseball; the case for logic; a short math miscellany and a final thought . . .; and twenty-five of the world's greatest brainteasers, plus two.-
-- Journal of Economic Literature
-If I was to house a collection of books on mathematics for fun and learning on a shelf, this one would accompany John Allen Paulos' Innumeracy, and Stephen Gould's Full House, on the one side, and Lewis Carroll's Introduction to Logic, and Martin Gardner's Best Mathematical and Logical Puzzles, on the other. . . . This is a fun and readable book, but the fun really disguises a serious educational mission.-
--Howard Schneiderman, Lafayette College
-Ardent devotees of mathematics, as well as readers eager to understand more about today's renewed focus on math, will turn again and again to this deft and accessible explanation of the world of numbers. Along with famous mathematical proofs, there are fascinating insights into the minds and lives of those who discovered them. Puzzle lovers can test their mettle with a collection of stimulating brainteasers that concludes a book that is an informative, delightful, fun read for everyone.-
--Ibtihaj Said Arafat, The City College of New York
-Among contemporary social scientists, the admirable Steven Goldberg is anomalous: unlike many of his peers, he believes that scholarship is, above all, for getting at the truth.-
--Paul Goss, author, Higher Superstition
-No person in American sociology is so well informed concerning the current fads and fashions in ideas among American intellectuals and semi-intellectuals. . . .Goldberg has emerged as a leading sociological logician. . . . The spirit of the great masters of sociological theory is in him.-
--Lewis Feuer, University of Virginia
"Explores quantitative thinking using mathematical proofs and anecdotes from well-known mathematicians. Discusses all that needs to be known; the lay of the land; why simple does not mean easy to do; gamesmanship; safe landings; believe it or not; science, math . . . and baseball; the case for logic; a short math miscellany and a final thought . . .; and twenty-five of the world's greatest brainteasers, plus two."
-- Journal of Economic Literature
"If I was to house a collection of books on mathematics for fun and learning on a shelf, this one would accompany John Allen Paulos' Innumeracy, and Stephen Gould's Full House, on the one side, and Lewis Carroll's Introduction to Logic, and Martin Gardner's Best Mathematical and Logical Puzzles, on the other. . . . This is a fun and readable book, but the fun really disguises a serious educational mission."
--Howard Schneiderman, Lafayette College
"Ardent devotees of mathematics, as well as readers eager to understand more about today's renewed focus on math, will turn again and again to this deft and accessible explanation of the world of numbers. Along with famous mathematical proofs, there are fascinating insights into the minds and lives of those who discovered them. Puzzle lovers can test their mettle with a collection of stimulating brainteasers that concludes a book that is an informative, delightful, fun read for everyone."
--Ibtihaj Said Arafat, The City College of New York
"Among contemporary social scientists, the admirable Steven Goldberg is anomalous: unlike many of his peers, he believes that scholarship is, above all, for getting at the truth."
--Paul Goss, author, Higher Superstition
"No person in American sociology is so well informed concerning the current fads and fashions in ideas among American intellectuals and semi-intellectuals. . . .Goldberg has emerged as a leading sociological logician. . . . The spirit of the great masters of sociological theory is in him."
--Lewis Feuer, University of Virginia
"Explores quantitative thinking using mathematical proofs and anecdotes from well-known mathematicians. Discusses all that needs to be known; the lay of the land; why simple does not mean easy to do; gamesmanship; safe landings; believe it or not; science, math . . . and baseball; the case for logic; a short math miscellany and a final thought . . .; and twenty-five of the world's greatest brainteasers, plus two."
-- Journal of Economic Literature
"If I was to house a collection of books on mathematics for fun and learning on a shelf, this one would accompany John Allen Paulos' Innumeracy, and Stephen Gould's Full House, on the one side, and Lewis Carroll's Introduction to Logic, and Martin Gardner's Best Mathematical and Logical Puzzles, on the other. . . . This is a fun and readable book, but the fun really disguises a serious educational mission."
--Howard Schneiderman, Lafayette College
"Ardent devotees of mathematics, as well as readers eager to understand more about today's renewed focus on math, will turn again and again to this deft and accessible explanation of the world of numbers. Along with famous mathematical proofs, there are fascinating insights into the minds and lives of those who discovered them. Puzzle lovers can test their mettle with a collection of stimulating brainteasers that concludes a book that is an informative, delightful, fun read for everyone."
--Ibtihaj Said Arafat, The City College of New York
"Among contemporary social scientists, the admirable Steven Goldberg is anomalous: unlike many of his peers, he believes that scholarship is, above all, for getting at the truth."
--Paul Goss, author, Higher Superstition
"No person in American sociology is so well informed concerning the current fads and fashions in ideas among American intellectuals and semi-intellectuals. . . .Goldberg has emerged as a leading sociological logician. . . . The spirit of the great masters of sociological theory is in him."
--Lewis Feuer, University of Virginia
"If I was to house a collection of books on mathematics for fun and learning on a shelf, this one would accompany John Allen Paulos' Innumeracy, and Stephen Gould's Full House, on the one side, and Lewis Carroll's Introduction to Logic, and Martin Gardner's Best Mathematical and Logical Puzzles, on the other. . . . This is a fun and readable book, but the fun really disguises a serious educational mission."
--Howard Schneiderman, Lafayette College
"Ardent devotees of mathematics, as well as readers eager to understand more about today's renewed focus on math, will turn again and again to this deft and accessible explanation of the world of numbers. Along with famous mathematical proofs, there are fascinating insights into the minds and lives of those who discovered them. Puzzle lovers can test their mettle with a collection of stimulating brainteasers that concludes a book that is an informative, delightful, fun read for everyone."
--Ibtihaj Said Arafat, The City College of New York
"Among contemporary social scientists, the admirable Steven Goldberg is anomalous: unlike many of his peers, he believes that scholarship is, above all, for getting at the truth."
--Paul Goss, author, Higher Superstition
"No person in American sociology is so well informed concerning the current fads and fashions in ideas among American intellectuals and semi-intellectuals. . . .Goldberg has emerged as a leading sociological logician. . . . The spirit of the great masters of sociological theory is in him."
--Lewis Feuer, University of Virginia
