The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places - Hardcover

Lee, Cora

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554510325 ISBN 13: 9781554510320

Publisher: Annick Press, 2007

Synopsis

When the schools in Jeremy’s town ban math, there are loud cheers from the kids. Even his teachers happily toss their textbooks. But Jeremy’s best friend Sam, a self-proclaimed mathnik, sets out to prove that math is not only important, but fun. In the chapters that follow, Sam reveals math’s presence in everyday places, including sports (types of triangles determine how a bike functions), art (artist M.C. Escher combined math patterns with imagination), even in nature (ants instinctively calculate dead reckoning—a navigation tool also used by astronauts). Meanwhile, surprising sidebars offer Jeremy’s thoughts on weird concepts from chaos theory to cash prizes for new prime numbers. In the end, Jeremy, his teachers, and even the Director of Education have to admit that school minus math equals all sorts of trouble. Complete with dozens of amusing real-life math examples, brief bios of seven famous mathematicians, and fun illustrations and diagrams, this innovative introduction to all things arithmetic will win over even the most math-phobic readers.

About this title

About the Author

Cora Lee is scientist and freelance writer whose work includes scientific articles for kids. This is her first book. She lives in Vancouver, B.C.

Gillian O'Reilly is a children's author and the editor of a children's literature magazine. She lives in Toronto.

Virigina Gray is the illustrator of several books for children. She lives in Katoomba, Australia.

Reviews

Grade 4–6—When Jeremy and Sam's school district decides to eliminate mathematics from the curriculum, most of the students and teachers are thrilled. However, Sam is devastated and takes on the Director of Education. The debate highlights Sam's knowledge of the use of mathematics in the design of buildings and bicycles, in tessellations and other art forms, in animation, in music, in patterns in nature (Fibonacci numbers), magic, etc. Interspersed with the story line are one-page biographies of Pythagoras, Archimedes, Hypatia of Alexandria, Sophie Germain, Charles Ludwig Dodgson, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Andrew Wiles. Sidebars with Jeremy's thoughts on chaos theory, cash prizes for new prime numbers, laws of probability, and palindrome numbers add to the information. Full-color cartoons, diagrams, and photos appear throughout. Classroom teachers could use this book to introduce new concepts and relate them to everyday objects to help students understand their significance. It would supplement math sections in school and public libraries.—Ann Joslin, Fort LeBoef School District, Waterford, PA
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Edition details

• Publisher: Annick Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1554510325
• ISBN 13: 9781554510320
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Gray Virginia
• Number of pages: 108