Alex's Adventures in Numberland

In this richly entertaining and accessible book, Alex Bellos explodes
the myth that maths is best left to the geeks. Covering subjects from
adding to algebra, from set theory to statistics, and from logarithms
to logical paradoxes, he explains how mathematical ideas underpin just
about everything in our lives.

Alex explains the surprising geometry of the 50p piece, and the
strategy of how best to gamble it in a casino. He shines a light on the
mathematical patterns in nature, and on the peculiar predictability of
random behaviour. He eats a potato crisp whose revolutionary shape was
unpalatable to the ancient Greeks, and he shows the deep connections
between maths, religion and philosophy.

Alex weaves a journey from primary school to university level maths,
from ancient history to the computing frontline, and from St Louis,
Missouri, to Braintree, Essex. He meets the world's fastest mental
calculators in Germany, consults a numerologist in the US desert, meets
a startlingly numerate chimpanzee in Japan, and seeks advice from a
venerable Hindu sage in India. An unlikely but exhilarating cocktail of
history, reportage and mathematical proofs, Alex's dispatches from'Numberland' show the world of maths to be a much friendlier and more
colourful place than you might have imagined.