Customer Reviews

Crimes And Mathdemeanors

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Crimes and Mathdemeanors is an Encyclopedia Brown-style book of short detective stories for young adults and adults alike - to test their mathematics skills and knowledge! Ravi, the 14-year-old math genius, must apply his knowledge of math and physics and his general cleverness to deduce the answers to riddles, mysteries, and puzzles. Tales rely on trigonometry, probability, combinatorics, and deductive reasoning to uncover the secret of whodunnit in this delightful educational and learning tool. Ideal for high school libraries, classroom use, and for adults who want to keep their math skills sharp!

A Mathematical Mosaic: Patterns & Problem Solving

Crimes and Mathdemeanors is a well-written brilliantly conceived book for those who love mysteries and puzzles. Author Leith Hathout wrote this delightful book while in high school, yet the quality of the writing and the sophistication of the underlying mathematical themes reflect a mature blend of literary and mathematical talent. I found his murder mysteries both engaging and challenging. If you enjoyed the riddles in Dan Brown's "The da Vinci Code," you will find this book a delight.

Leith Hathout has written a recreational math book for all ages. I have many math and recreational math books and still had not encountered most of the puzzles he chose to build his mysteries around. The mysteries are a bit "underwritten" but this is a recreational math book as opposed to a novel. His explanations are excellent. I suspect that we will be hearing more from him in the future.

Loving the book, despite the slightly contrived and corny storytelling. Not a pure fiction read: fails to support suspension of disbelief. But a great entertainment book for all ages! I hope the author writes more - books like this are a rare treasure.

Book owners/author:

There is an obvious non-geometric solution to the eagles and its generalization to non-constant speed: consider that the ratio of speeds of walker and rider over any path segment can be reasonably assumed to be constant. Geometrically, this translates to monotonic, but not necessarily linear path on the graph to meeting point. Also, this simplifies the solution to middle school level by avoiding the trig.

The book is good when read in many more than one sitting. It is a nice resource for high school math teachers, detailed with algebra, physics, trigonometry, and geometry activities.