The Magic of Math

By Arthur Benjamin,

Book cover of The Magic of Math: Solving for X and Figuring Out Why

Book description

A New York Times Bestseller Arthur Benjamin . . . joyfully shows you how to make nature's numbers dance." ,Bill Nye The Magic of Math is the math book you wish you had in school. Using a delightful assortment of examples,from ice-cream scoops and poker hands to measuring mountains and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Magic of Math as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Have you ever been to a mathematics lecture where the speaker wore a tuxedo and baffled the audience with his mystifying knowledge of numbers? Well, I have and the speaker was Arthur Benjamin, who combined mathematics and magic. He even displayed this knowledge with Stephen Colbert on his earlier show The Colbert Report. It is our good fortune that he describes much of this mathematical wizardry in this fascinating book. 

From Gary's list on if you want to be a mathematician.

Want books like The Magic of Math?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Magic of Math.

Browse books like The Magic of Math

Book cover of I Want to Be a Mathematician: An Automathography in Three Parts (Maa Spectrum Series)
Book cover of The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth
Book cover of The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,206

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in math, magic, and geometry?

Math 276 books
Magic 30 books
Geometry 12 books