online archive
2:00PM
NOV 28 2007
The story of measurement
A review of The Story of Measurement by Andrew Robinson. The first chapter from Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey by Paul C. Pasles. A review of Perfect Figures: The Lore of Numbers by Bunny Crumpacker. Good stories, good math: Young children who show sophisticated story-telling skills go on to demonstrate greater mathematical ability. Alexis Lemaire can calculate the 13th root of a 200-digit number in just over a minute. In fact, he could be the greatest "mathlete" ever, but why does he want to spend four hours a day practising, and what's so special about 37? A review of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart by Ian Ayres. A video that's worth a million words: Award-winning video reveals the simplicity and beauty of an abstract mathematical tool.
