Description

‘Maths at its most playful and multifarious’ Jordan Ellenberg

Matt Parker, author of the No.1 bestseller Humble Pi, takes us on a riotous journey through the possibilities of numbers

Mathematician Matt Parker uses bizarre Klein Bottles, unimaginably small pizza slices, knots no one can untie and computers built from dominoes to reveal some of the most exotic and fascinating ideas in mathematics. Starting with simple numbers and algebra, this book goes on to deal with inconceivably big numbers in more dimensions than you ever knew existed. And always with something for you to make or do along the way.

‘The book oozes with sheer joy’ New Scientist

‘Matt Parker is some sort of unholy fusion of a prankster, wizard and brilliant nerd – clever, funny and ever so slightly naughty’ Adam Rutherford, author of Creation

‘Matt Parker never got the memo about maths being boring … he seeks to reconnect us to the numbers around us’ Simon Usborne, Independent

‘Essential reading’ Observer

Publisher Review

An unusual, in-depth but highly accessible popular-maths book by a member of the London Mathematical Society who also has a sideline in stand-up comedy -- Books of the Year * Economist * Matt Parker is some sort of unholy fusion of a prankster, wizard and brilliant nerd - clever, funny and ever so slightly naughty -- Adam Rutherford, author of CREATION Essential reading * Observer * Matt Parker is a lovely, funny, big, dork -- Ben Goldacre Shows off maths at its most playful and multifarious, ranging from classics like knot theory and ruler-and-compass constructions to more whimsical topics like the topology of beer logos and error-correcting scarves -- Jordan Ellenberg, author of HOW NOT TO BE WRONG This is the best book on recreational mathematics since Martin Gardner's My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles -- Harold D. Shane, Mathematics Emeritus, Baruch Coll., CUNY * Library Journal *