The Joy of X

Math is so much more than algebra.

Steve Strogatz is our generation’s poet laureate of math. I could not put this book down because, although I use math daily, I was amazed at how Strogatz connects everything to everyday experience. Just one example: Hardly anyone gets told about “group theory” in high school because it’s “too advanced”—but here we find it beautifully illustrated with the problem of flipping your mattress twice a year.

This book will help you have your own ideas by opening your eyes to a world of things that just make better sense through the lens of… show more.

I love the way the author starts with the simplest concepts in mathematics (numbers, counting) and finds something deep, engaging, and utterly new to say about them.

By the end, the author is delving into some of the deepest and most complex ideas in mathematics (differential geometry, infinity) and has found simple language to make it lucid and interesting. I find Strogatz to be a master communicator of the subject – not only is he amazingly accessible, but he is consistently entertaining.  

There are books that simply tell us (or perhaps remind us) how mathematics can be interesting and fun. This delightful book is one of the best, describing how mathematics can be amazing, surprising, and beautiful, all at the same time. While mathematics has helped people accomplish so many things that we may have never dreamed of, this book shows us that mathematics can be popular as well.