Is Math Real?: How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics' Deepest Truths

ISBN: 154160671X

Author: Cheng, Eugenia

Condition: New

One of the worlds most creative mathematicians offers a brilliant and mesmerizing (Popular Science) new way to look at math-focusing on questions, not answersWinner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a New Scientist Best Book of the YearWhere do we learn math: From rules in a textbook? From logic and deduction? Not really, according to mathematician Eugenia Cheng: we learn it from human curiosity-most importantly, from asking questions. This may come as a surprise to those who think that math is about finding the one right answer, or those who were told that the dumb question they asked just proved they were bad at math. But Cheng shows why people who ask questions like Why does 1 + 1 = 2? are at the very heart of the search for mathematical truth.  Is Math Real? is a much-needed repudiation of the rigid ways were taught to do math, and a celebration of the true, curious spirit of the discipline. Written with intelligence and passion, Is Math Real? brings us math as weve never seen it before, revealing how profound insights can emerge from seemingly unlikely sources.