FireFly

Sorry, no table of contents exists for this entry.

Sorry, no excerpts exist for this entry.

Designed with the general reader and students in mind, this volume provides clear and concise explanations of mathematical concepts. It uses the simplest, jargon-free language possible to clarify such concepts as probability and statistics, discrete mathematics, logic, and analysis. Covering 1001 mathematical topics, the work covers such subjects as geometry, algebra, numbers, applied mathematics, and calculus. This is a fun resource that can make most any student find something interesting in mathematics. It is a concise, general work that can be used for browsing or for looking up specific topics in both high school and public libraries.
- Melinda F. Matthews  American Reference Books Annual 2010  2011 03 01

Often, when one hears a scientific or mathematical reference, it usually requires a concise explanation using regular terminology. Elwes (mathematics researcher, Univ. of Leeds, England) gives us a shortcut to some of mathematics' most significant topics, doing for his subject what Paul Parsons did for science in Science 101: Absolutely Everything That Matters About Science in 1001 Bite-Sized Explanations. As in that book, concise essays about a variety of mathematical fields--numbers, algebra, geometry, logic--are arranged here by broad topics along with more specific subjects. The accessible text is written without troublesome jargon and terminology. Many of the essays contain illustrations of plots, graphs, and figures. The index makes it easy to find an essay if one is not particularly familiar with the hierarchy of mathematics. One can rarely call a mathematics book fun, but that's exactly what Elwes's book is. Appropriate for school, public, and academic collections.
- Margaret Dominy  Library Journal  2011 01