Mastering Numbers: Everyday Mathematics Made Simple

The perfect antidote to numbers-phobia, this clear, concise guide explains everything you need to know about arithmetic, fractions, statistics, probability, algebra and geometry.

We all use numbers every day, yet many people are uncomfortable with them, finding them daunting and difficult. Others treat numbers as a practical tool they can handle quite well, while failing to appreciate their most amazing qualities.

This book is the antidote to number-phobia. As with learning to swim, you'll never look back: these are skills you'll use for the rest of your life. If you think you're good with numbers already, you'll soon discover what you've been missing: the endless fascination and beauty of numbers, and – at the more practical level – a whole range of techniques and shortcuts you never knew existed.

Mastering Numbers brings the subject to life, replacing the atmosphere of the classroom with the wonder of the magician's workshop. In learning to enjoy numbers, we discover a multitude of practical skills – everything from understanding statistics and the odds gamblers face to the interest rates on savings and ways to maximise your returns. Never again need you flounder in a business meeting or an encounter with your bank manager – and if the chance arises to chat to him more casually, you could impress with stories about pi, prime numbers, Fermat's theorem, and much else besides.

Full of enjoyable exercises, puzzles, demonstrations and self-testing interludes, this is a book to instruct and give pleasure.

Andrew Jeffrey bills himself as The Mathemagician. He taught mathematics for twenty years and is also a professional magician, and combines these two skills in such presentations as “The Magic of Maths”, a show for schools. His previous books include 100 Top Tips for Maths Teachers and Magic for Kids of all Ages.