Book picks similar to
String, Straightedge, and Shadow: The Story of Geometry by Julia E. Diggins
math
history
non-fiction
homeschooling
Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers
Jo Boaler - 2019
This notion follows us into adulthood, where we tend to simply accept these established beliefs about our skillsets (i.e. that we don’t have “a math brain” or that we aren’t “the creative type”). These damaging—and as new science has revealed, false—assumptions have influenced all of us at some time, affecting our confidence and willingness to try new things and limiting our choices, and, ultimately, our futures.Stanford University professor, bestselling author, and acclaimed educator Jo Boaler has spent decades studying the impact of beliefs and bias on education. In
Limitless Mind
, she explodes these myths and reveals the six keys to unlocking our boundless learning potential. Her research proves that those who achieve at the highest levels do not do so because of a genetic inclination toward any one skill but because of the keys that she reveals in the book. Our brains are not “fixed,” but entirely capable of change, growth, adaptability, and rewiring. Want to be fluent in mathematics? Learn a foreign language? Play the guitar? Write a book? The truth is not only that anyone at any age can learn anything, but the act of learning itself fundamentally changes who we are, and as Boaler argues so elegantly in the pages of this book, what we go on to achieve.
Lauren Ipsum
Carlos Bueno - 2011
If the idea of a computer science book without computers upsets you, please close your eyes until you’ve finished reading the rest of this page.The truth is that computer science is not really about the computer. It is just a tool to help you see ideas more clearly. You can see the moon and stars without a telescope, smell the flowers without a fluoroscope, have fun without a funoscope, and be silly sans oscilloscope.You can also play with computer science without... you-know-what. Ideas are the real stuff of computer science. This book is about those ideas, and how to find them.
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13
Helaine Becker - 2018
But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home?As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe.From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history.
Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
Leonard Mlodinow - 2001
Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology. Based on Mlodinow's extensive historical research; his studies alongside colleagues such as Richard Feynman and Kip Thorne; and interviews with leading physicists and mathematicians such as Murray Gell-Mann, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene, Euclid's Window is an extraordinary blend of rigorous, authoritative investigation and accessible, good-humored storytelling that makes a stunningly original argument asserting the primacy of geometry. For those who have looked through Euclid's Window, no space, no thing, and no time will ever be quite the same.
Book of Proof
Richard Hammack - 2009
It is a bridge from the computational courses (such as calculus or differential equations) that students typically encounter in their first year of college to a more abstract outlook. It lays a foundation for more theoretical courses such as topology, analysis and abstract algebra. Although it may be more meaningful to the student who has had some calculus, there is really no prerequisite other than a measure of mathematical maturity. Topics include sets, logic, counting, methods of conditional and non-conditional proof, disproof, induction, relations, functions and infinite cardinality.
Ox, House, Stick: The History of Our Alphabet
Don Robb - 2007
From the proto-Sinaitic peoples, through the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, this book follows the development of the Roman alphabet.Includes sidebar information on punctuation, writing materials, the technology of printing, and more.
Pompeii . . . Buried Alive!
Edith Kunhardt - 1987
in full color. "The drama of natural disasters provides prime material to entice young independent readers. In this volume, the account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius describes village life 2,000 years ago, the eruption itself and its aftermath, and the excitement when the buried town is rediscovered centuries later. A lively and factual glimpse of a devastating moment in history, in an accessible, attractive package."--Publishers Weekly.
Mind Tools: The Five Levels of Mathematical Reality
Rudy Rucker - 1987
Reveals mathematics' great power as an alternative language for understanding things and explores such concepts as logic as a computing tool, digital versus analog processes and communication as information transmission.
Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail
Danica McKellar - 2007
In this fun and accessible guide, McKellardubbed a math superstar by The New York Timesgives girls and their parents the tools they need to master the math concepts that confuse middle-schoolers most, including fractions, percentages, pre-algebra, and more. The book features hip, real-world examples, step-by-step instruction, and engaging stories of Danica's own childhood struggles in math (and stardom). In addition, borrowing from the style of today's teen magazines, it even includes a Math Horoscope section, Math Personality Quizzes, and Real-Life Testimonialsultimately revealing why math is easier and cooler than readers think.
Tirzah
Lucille Travis - 1991
Tirzah and her lame brother, Oren, help gather straw to make bricks. She observes the suffering of her people and the injustices that are done to them by the Egyptian police. Moses begs Pharaoh to let them go, but Pharaoh makes them work harder.One night, when the plague of death strikes down Pharaoh's own son, he allows the Israelites to flee on foot, only to pursue them with horses and chariots. He believes he will have them trapped between the mountains and the sea, but God miraculously delivers them. The Israelites celebrate with a song of hope and victory. Tirzah befriends a young Egyptian girl who has fled with them, even though others treat her badly. In spite of hardship and disappointment, Tirzah and her family keep trusting Yahweh to carry them through.
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Sumerian Slave!: A Life of Hard Labor You'd Rather Avoid
Jacqueline Morley - 2007
Readers will become the main character and can revel in the gory, dark, horrific side of life throughout important moments in history. Humorous Handy Hints that relate directly to the text are provided on each spread. You (the reader) are an English gentleman eager to join a group of settlers planning to start a new colony in the New World. You have heard the tales of previous expeditions and want to get your hands on some of the fabled riches that are found there. As a member of the colony, you will get an insider's look at the history behind some of the previous expeditions, what you pack for the long journey across the Atlantic, how the first few years at Jamestown were difficult because no one knew how to farm, and how the colonists interacted with the native Algonquians. After reading this book there will be no doubt in your mind that this is definitely a settlement you'd rather not start.
Enlightening Symbols: A Short History of Mathematical Notation and Its Hidden Powers
Joseph Mazur - 2014
What did mathematicians rely on for their work before then? And how did mathematical notations evolve into what we know today? In Enlightening Symbols, popular math writer Joseph Mazur explains the fascinating history behind the development of our mathematical notation system. He shows how symbols were used initially, how one symbol replaced another over time, and how written math was conveyed before and after symbols became widely adopted.Traversing mathematical history and the foundations of numerals in different cultures, Mazur looks at how historians have disagreed over the origins of the numerical system for the past two centuries. He follows the transfigurations of algebra from a rhetorical style to a symbolic one, demonstrating that most algebra before the sixteenth century was written in prose or in verse employing the written names of numerals. Mazur also investigates the subconscious and psychological effects that mathematical symbols have had on mathematical thought, moods, meaning, communication, and comprehension. He considers how these symbols influence us (through similarity, association, identity, resemblance, and repeated imagery), how they lead to new ideas by subconscious associations, how they make connections between experience and the unknown, and how they contribute to the communication of basic mathematics.From words to abbreviations to symbols, this book shows how math evolved to the familiar forms we use today.
King Alfred's English, a History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do
Laurie J. White - 2009
Aimed at students in grades 7-12, "King Alfred's English" is an intriguing look at the development of language--a combination study in both history and English with a bit of linguistics woven throughout.
With Two Hands: Stories of God at Work in Ethiopia
Rebecca H. Davis - 2010
Why would a crippled old man wait by the side of the road every day for twenty years? Why would a slave and a witch doctor walk for three days to find a man called Jesus? Why would a lame man purposely walk to a tribe where he knew he could be killed? Sixteen captivating episodes from one Christian mission in Ethiopia show the power of God in the midst of darkness.