The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus: The Mathematics of Christmas

In The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus, two distinguished mathematicians explain, with humor and clarity, mathematical concepts through one very merry motif: Christmas.

Lighthearted and diverting with Christmasy diagrams, sketches and graphs, equations, Markov chains, and matrices, The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus brightens up the bleak midwinter with stockingsful of mathematical marvels.

How do you apply game theory to select who should be on your Christmas shopping list? What equations should you use to decorate the Christmas tree? Will calculations show Santa is getting steadily thinner—shimmying up and down chimneys for a whole night—or fatter—as he munches on cookies and milk in billions of houses across the world?

In their quest to provide mathematical proof for the existence of Santa, the authors take readers on a festive journey through a traditional holiday season. Every activity, from wrapping presents to playing board games to cooking the perfect turkey, is analyzed through the lens of math. Because who hasn’t always wondered how to set up a mathematically perfect Secret Santa?

This book belongs under your Christmas tree if you enjoy a spice of math in your eggnog.

Thomas Oléron Evans, PhD, is a Teaching Fellow for the Smart Cities and Spatial Data Courses at the University College London.
 
Hannah Fry, PhD, is a broadcaster and lecturer of the mathematics of cities at the University College London. She is the author of The Mathematics of Love, and her TED Talk on the subject has been viewed over five million times. She regularly appears on BBC television and radio.