FREE ALEX THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: HOW LIFE REFLECTS NUMBERS, AND NUMBERS REFLECT LIFE PDF

Alex Bellos | 352 pages | 28 Dec 2015 | PLC | 9781408845721 | English | London, United Kingdom Alex Through the Looking-Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life | Royal Society Review by Alan Gill. Everyone loves them. Numbers are everywhere we look and are involved in almost everything do. The journey starts off well, exploring what humans do to numbers: pick favourites and ascribe personalities. Bellos surveyed over 30, people to find their favourite number and why they chose them, seemingly creating order from what most would predict to be chaos. These numeric trends continue and Numbers Reflect Life the following chapter, introducing a curious property of datasets that aid fraud investigators and geologists to find anomalies that help them do their work. Things begin to get a little tricky after that, though. Chapters about trigonometry, the importance of cones to geometry, properties of circles and the birth of calculus allow Bellos to indulge in his passion for mathematics, but at and Numbers Reflect Life it is Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers to be left behind by his exuberant enthusiasm. There are still intriguing personalities to meet and various tidbits and facts to keep you keen, but the nitty gritty of mathematical equations can become a tad difficult to wade through. While the book claims each chapter is standalone, this explanation is the culmination of several concepts spanning multiple chapters and highlights how passionate Bellos is about maths. The different concepts that come together can be difficult to navigate, and at times appear somewhat messy for what is really quite a tidy formula. Alex Through the Looking Glass is an approachable read Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers Bellos is and Numbers Reflect Life master at conveying complex mathematical concepts in simple terms. He allows his readers the opportunity to explore proofs and puzzles further in the appendix, though at times he comes across a touch patronising, saying that certain proofs are too complex to explain. Mathematics underpin our entire society, yet many rejoice in remaining ignorant about how it works. Sure, maths can be hard, but Bellos does a remarkable job of keeping it simple and understandable. While it can be slow in parts, Alex Through the Looking Glass is a great read and will and Numbers Reflect Life you wanting to know more. Alan Gill. Alan Gill is a science communicator in Melbourne, Australia. A lover of science but not a particularly diligent scientist, Alan found his passion for talking and writing about research early on, completing a BSc Science Communication at the University of Western Australia and honing his skills at Scitech in Perth. Alan currently lives in Melbourne and works as a science communicator at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, filling his spare time by sporadically tending to his blog, training for a university exercise study and loudly encouraging his AFL football team. Reblogged this on Literally Science and commented:. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Please share! Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:. Email required Address never made public. Name required. Post to Cancel. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The Grapes of Math: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life by Alex Bellos

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. And Numbers Reflect Life to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. The Surreal McCoy Illustrations. From triangles, rotations and power laws, to cones, curves and the dreaded calculus, Alex takes you on a journey of mathematical discovery with his signature wit and limitless enthusiasm. He attends the World Mathematical Congress in India, and visits the engineer who designed the first roller-coaster loop. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. Published June 10th by Simon Schuster first published More Details Original Title. Alex through the looking-glass: how life reflects numbers and numbers reflects life. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Grapes of Mathplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. What a freakingly amazing book! I think the best way to describe it, is its sub-title: how life reflects numbers and numbers reflect life. This is what Alex Bellos tells us through many stories ranging from ancient Sumeria to today's computer geek centres. I learned so much with this book, and at the same time it was such fun. I will be getting back to it often. My last read of the year was surely one of my best reads of the year! View 2 comments. May 30, Lili rated it it was amazing Shelves: info-gatheringfirst-read. Usually I am very much so a speed reader and just zoom and Numbers Reflect Life a book, The Grapes of Math was an entirely different thing. I found myself pausing frequently after sections lost in thought about the material presenting, absorbing the concepts and ideas. I loved it! It has never come easy to me As an adult I find myself more and more irked that I did not work harder to master the art of numbers, so of course I was more than thrilled to read this book. It is exactly the kind of reading material I would suggest to someone who has the same 'learning disability' not that it really is, it is more a learning hiccup as me. This book takes at times very advanced concepts and explains them in ways that actually make sense. It uses history, real life, art, and some awesome illustrations to make things like calculus and trigonometry approachable. True this book is not a textbook, I did not walk away from it knowing how to do calculus, but I did walk away from it knowing how to approach it, how to think Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers. I am going to and Numbers Reflect Life out on and Numbers Reflect Life limb and say this is the best book I have read this year, possibly the best book I have read in years. I am most certainly going to read Here's Looking At Euclid now. You mention maths to people and they either think Mental Abuse To Humans or run screaming from the room. But we are surrounded by numbers, they are in the things that we read, play a key role in everything we do online and the wonders of a simple cone. In this book Bellos draws out the stories behind the numbers. We learn how simple triangulation allows us to move around the country with maps and sat nav. How exponential growth is the key number behind You Tube sensations and Catalan architecture You mention maths to people and they either think Mental Abuse To Humans or run screaming from the room. How exponential growth is the key number behind You Tube sensations and Catalan architecture. We meet those playing the game of life are beginning to understand the deepest complexities of life from a simple computer programme and how a simple mathematical law can catch the financial crook, and we discover just what peoples favourite number are. It is a reasonably accessible book too, even for those that and Numbers Reflect Life turn a paler shade when the word maths is mentioned. He does drift of into the delights of calculus in one chapter, but all of the others are well explained, understandable, and may even make you smile every now and again. My memory fails me most of the time when it comes to having read Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers comprehended science and maths. It is and Numbers Reflect Life curse but has a silver lining in that I get to reorient with the fascinating world of maths and the concepts and the theorems and the deep insights seems wonderful again and I am like "Wow" again. Not that reading such stuff makes me any smarter, in fact it makes me feel like a dunce that I haven't comprehended this stuff in spite of being introduced to these. I envy those who have been ab My memory fails me most of the time when it comes to having read and comprehended science and maths. I envy those who have been able to tame these wild beasts and domesticated them for our application and contributed to the development of the modern Scientific world. But the joy in reading about mathematical gems and treasures is so rewarding that I almost weep with joy at some of the discoveries, some of the outcomes of some equations just hit you "boom", I swear I am left shocked and thunderstruck. The book covers the usual suspects of the Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers related to mathematics - pi, exponential constants, trigonometrycalculus, factorials - sounds intimidating but Bellos explains it well and connects the subjects. After 25 years finally figured out trig basics of sin cos tan better. Regret I didn't pay attention in school. Got to know the beauty of Mandelbrot set, catenaries that inspired Gaudi architecture have to know more of himthe fascinating Game of Life. Great introductions. Having read a few pop maths book, feel that such Pop book writing seems to have evolved. Writers seem to have developed in their translation of technical concepts and present it more palpably. This book is an example. But alas I will have to come back to it cos I already seem to be forgetting some concepts. Maths will always be elusive to and Numbers Reflect Life but I will make that pilgrimage again. I received this book for free through Goodreads: First reads. I really enjoyed reading this book and, contrary to my fear that I might lose heart with it, I found myself more and more intrigued by each subsequent and Numbers Reflect Life. Bellos deals with maths in a wonderfully playful fashion. His attitude shines through in the chapter illustrations as well as some charmingly phrased analogies and segues into the next discussion. I found this a little strange at first, as I am used to formal scientific articles and textbooks, but I soon tempered to it. Also, this happily separated it from associations with hard work. He always wears a three-piece suit, starched white collar, lavaliere cravat - the kind folded extravagantly in a giant bow - and a sparkling, tarantula-sized spider brooch. As someone already enthusiastic about Maths, I was pleased to discover new laws and the "Game of Life" as well as concepts with which I was already familiar presented in a new way. However, I did find something a little troubling in the tone of the introduction; a suggestion that I, the reader, would be reluctant to engage with this book and needed persuading. A note on the book's physical appearance: I am disproportionally enraptured by the archer on the spine of the book shooting an arrow into a beautiful parabola, but I could not conclude without mentioning it. It is excellent. Though, Alex, how many times is it necessary to print your name and Numbers Reflect Life image on the dustcover? I know you must be proud, but it is a little much. This book is strictly for the Math enthusiasts and can make for some difficult reading for the uninitiated. While the author tries to make it fun, most of the book still feels very 'text-bookish' and may not appeal to everyone. This is quite unlike his other book - Alex's adventures in Numberland which is easy and fun for everyone to read. May 20, Dave rated it really liked it. A really enjoyable, readable exploration of some higher math that I haven't thought about since the dark days of high school trig and calc. There is a lot of cool stuff for the math curious in here Benford's LawConway's Game of Lifehow to fairly divide a cake between three people presented in a lively manner that I wish I'd and Numbers Reflect Life in my math textbooks. Still, if you never want to Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers an equation again, this book may not be for you. A notation-heavy dive into calculus about two-thirds of the A really enjoyable, readable exploration of some and Numbers Reflect Life math that I haven't thought about since the dark days of high school trig and calc. A notation-heavy dive into calculus about two-thirds of the way through nearly lost me, but Bellos bounces back with a fascinating look at arcane math theory and computing. Jul 16, Thom rated it liked it Shelves: non-fiction. Really enjoyed this author's previous book, Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of And Numbers Reflect Lifewhich was a lot of fun to read and very accessible to the math-challenged. Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life by Alex Bellos

Goodreads helps you Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. From triangles, rotations and power laws, to cones, curves and the dreaded calculus, Alex takes you on a journey of mathematical discovery with his signature wit and limitless enthusiasm. He attends the World Mathematical Congress in India, and visits the engineer who designed the first roller-coaster loop. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Alex through the looking-glass: how life reflects numbers and numbers reflects life. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Alex Through the Looking Glassplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Alex Through the Looking Glass. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. Sort order. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Readers also enjoyed. Goodreads is hiring! If you like books and love to build cool products, we may be looking for you. Science Nature. About Alex Bellos. Alex Bellos. After studying mathematics and philosophy at university I joined the Evening Argus in as a trainee reporter. Since I have lived in London, as and Numbers Reflect Life freelance writer and broadca "I was born in and grew up in and . Since I have lived in London, as a freelance writer and broadcaster. Books by Alex Bellos. Escape the Present and Numbers Reflect Life These 24 Historical Romances. You know the saying: There's no time like the present In that case, we can't Read more Trivia About The Grapes of Mat No trivia or quizzes yet. Quotes from Alex Through the Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.