Mathematics made difficult

Mathematics made difficult
By Carl E Linderholm


Publisher: World Pub
Number Of Pages: 207
Publication Date: 1972
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0529045524
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780529045522



Summary: A hilarious book that just might teach you something
Rating: 5

I found this book while browsing my university library 25 years ago. In a sea of titles like "Mathematics Made Easy/Simple/etc." this book stood out from the crowd. Now, my mathematical background would probably be categorized as "moderate" - the ordinary math taken by an engineering student, 3 years of calculus and differential equations. Advanced algebra, group and set theory, and topology are all beyond my understanding.

Since really understanding this book more or less depends on a knowledge of all of these, one might expect it to go above me. What I found instead was, in addition to enjoying the delightfully witty writing, I actually learned something about all these topics. Not that I remember much now, of course - but probably no less than I remember from most subjects I was actually enrolled in.

Example: Early in the book, he reproduces an imaginary Q&A in which the questioner relates that when he meets a mathematician at a party and he says "Well, I guess we've come a long way since 1+1=2", the mathematician makes a wry face. The author then, in answering the imaginary questioner, takes an entire chapter explaining exactly how complicated 1+1=2 really is. You have to start with what does "1" mean, for example. This leads to mathematical constructs I had never dreamed of simply to understand what numbers and counting are.

In summary, this is a wonderful book for anybody with at least an ordinary college-level understanding of math, and I hope somebody reprints it.



Summary: Categories for the Non-Working Mathematician
Rating: 4

This book is a wonderfully humorous satire of the project (possibly pushed by Mac Lane, Lawvere, Grothendieck, and others, though never as far as one might think) to reformulate all of mathematics on category-theoretic foundations. As such, many of the jokes will be lost on a reader with no familiarity with the language of category theory. But there are plenty of other jokes that even a high schooler should be able to appreciate. There's also some entertaining national stereotypes of French mathematicians and others that probably date the book a bit.

Highly recommended for a math graduate student who needs distraction from work.



Summary: REISSUE THIS!!!
Rating: 5

I am mainly writing a review to see is someone will notice enough to reissue this book. Ya gotta love something that deconstructs counting ('So You Think You Know How To Count?').



Summary: hard to find but worth it
Rating: 5

The jokes are hysterical, although the book may require some smidgeon of knowledge of math past high school trig...



Summary: Brilliant Humor
Rating: 4

One of the funniest books I ever read. Brilliant, on many levels. You also learn a lot about abstract algebra and topology.

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