Go Figure!: A Totally Cool Book About Numbers (Big Questions) - Hardcover

Ball, Johnny

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0756613744 ISBN 13: 9780756613747

Publisher: DK Children, 2005

Synopsis

Numbers create the structure to our universe. Without numbers, computers would not work and cars would not go. There would be no way to quantify things. You wouldn't be able to ask "How many?" or "How much?" We would not understand time or distance. Sports records wouldn't matter! Go Figure! is a math book filled with the weird and wonderful side of math and numbers.

Discover why there are 60 minutes in an hour, why daisies have to have 34, 55, or 89 petals, and why finding a prime number could make you a millionaire. Go Figure! is also packed with activities that children can try out on their own or with friends, including brainteasers, magic tricks, and things to make, while also learning about the simple puzzles that stumped the world's brainiest mathematicians for centuries. Go Figure! is a fun and quirky look at the magical world of numbers, without the effort of a math textbook.

About this title

About the Author

Johnny Ball is the host of Think of a Number, Think Again (BBC), and Johnny Ball Reveals All (ITV). His shows and videos have won 12 awards, including a New York International Emmy nomination, the ITV "Presenter of the Year" Craft Award and a BAFTA.

Reviews

Grade 4-8–A dynamic book filled with puzzles and problems to solve. Blocks of color, diagrams, and photo collages contribute to the exciting layout. Four sections (Where do numbers come from? Magic numbers, Shaping up, and The world of math) cover the history of counting, zero, number theory, Pi, chance, logic, fractals, and much more. The contributions of mathematical greats, from Ahmose to Albert Einstein, are described in brief. Many of the examples and questions are popular culture items; answers are provided in the back of the book. There is an error; the book attributes selecting animals to take on the ark to Moses rather than Noah. Not all sources are attributed (such as the chance of dying from various causes), although all images are. This title is well indexed and has a detailed table of contents. A fun romp for number and puzzle lovers.–Erlene Bishop Killeen, Fox Prairie Elementary School, Stoughton, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 4-7. Ball aims straight at kids' natural enthusiasm for puzzles and nifty phenomena in this wide-angle view of math. Readers will find the usual number history, finger-counting tricks, and magic squares here, but Ball extends his purview well beyond typical classroom subjects to touch upon topology, chaos theory, and fractals. Some discussions and exercises will challenge even grown-up brainiacs ("It's possible to make a hole in a postcard-sized piece of paper that a person can step through. Can you work out the pattern?"), but many others (making an icosahedron; performing probability-based card tricks) are spot-on for inquisitive kids who like to fiddle and ponder. Perhaps the only real drawback is the book's design. Fragments of text appear beside distractingly scattered photos, and the jacket's cheerful primary colors seem to target a younger audience than will be capable of absorbing the concepts. Try this on kids who ask for books on Sudoku number squares, and give it to teachers at many levels, who will want to borrow from Ball's pedagogical toolbox. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: DK Children
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0756613744
• ISBN 13: 9780756613747
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96