How it works: how math works [Hardcover]

Carol Vorderman (Author)

Book Description

Series: How It Works

Here is a stimulating guide to the wonders of mathematics, packed with enlightening experiments for the whole family. Provides brain-teasing puzzles and tricks as well as educa-tional experiments that are fun to do. For ages 8-14.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 5^-8. With a book jacket statement, "100 Ways Parents and Kids Can Share the Wonders of Mathematics," this large-format compendium offers many activities as well as brief discussions of math concepts and history. Projects include creating a hopscotch game to demonstrate positive and negative numbers, comparing the ratios of objects with their shadows, and making a spirit level. Sometimes an activity's connection to mathematics seems tenuous (making a magic wallet or a pinhole camera). Each double-page spread focuses on a particular subject within one of the seven broad headings: numbers, proportions, algebra, statistics, measurement, shape, and thinking. The pages' bright, crisp colors are crowded with many small, white-background photos as well as experiments, projects, and sidebars. The approach may be scattershot, but some of the projects will hit the target, providing ideas that parents and teachers can use in teaching math to children. Carolyn Phelan

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (August 6, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895778505
• ISBN-13: 978-0895778505
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fantastic summer occupation!!, June 3, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How Math Works (How It Works) (Paperback)

"How Math Works" could be subtitled "How to keep your kids occupied for many hours this summer in a productive, educational, and fun way." Instead, the subtitle is "100 ways parents and kids can share the wonders of mathematics." Close. Either one will work.

I sat down with this book and went through every page, reading here and there, looking at the experiments. My very first thought was, No way could a typical kid create these experiments, much less complete them. But then after just a few pages, I decided, yes, they can with a little help here and there. If you (the adult) help a little, a lot of math will come back to you. This book is designed to be enjoyable for kid and adult alike.

For example, remember the Golden Mean, or special ratio in art and architecture, used in creating the perfect ratio "look" to the Parthenon and the Pyramid at Gizeh in Egypt? There is an experiment to learn just how the mean works. On the next page is an experiment to make the Golden Mean! How cool is that?!

Try using algebra to solve this puzzle: A friend said that on his birthday, his mother's age was three times his, but in 15 years, she would be twice as old as he. How old are the boy and his mother today?

There's a section on chances and probability. Did you learn those in school. Didn't think so. How about the various personal measuring systems used through the ages? Or how to economically wrap a package? In another chapter children will learn how to find true north, make a spirit level, create a leaning tower, use trigonometry to find the height of things, and create curves with straight lines.

They will learn about Nobel Prize winners in mathematics and create a double helix, create an envelope tetrahedron, make a flying machine, and study asymmetry using their own faces.

The last chapter concerns philosophy and logic. Two fabulous experiments involve making a paper logic chain and the other constructing the Tower of Hanoi. Have you ever seen those long flow charts where a steel ball travels along a mix-max of chutes and tunnels? Your kids can make one out of normal household products. The last activity is testing the chaos theory, which deals with dynamics or changes within a system.

I skipped the beginning, so let's go back. The first chapter shows what tools are needed for the entire book--all simple, easily obtainable items.
The history of numbers, major mathematicians, and enough games, puzzles, and tricks in this book will enable your child to have enough things to do for a very long time, or at least until the end of summer.

Meanwhile, the book is so mixed with visuals, facts, diagrams, information, and experiments, that it is highly likely for this book to create a supreme interest in mathematics. I'm personally allergic to math, but I think I want a copy of this book for myself. I suggest every parent who loves to work with their children and, indeed, every elementary teacher who provides instruction in math must own a copy! This is a must-have book!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A recommended cure for those who dislike math, December 26, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Cambridge, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How it works: how math works (Hardcover)

This colorful, fun book is a far-ranging, nicely-illustrated exploration of the world of mathematics. It has sections on algebra, probability, statistics, calculation, geometry, topology, and more. Each pair of facing pages discusses a mathematical concept and its history. Most pages offer an amusing puzzle in which the concept plays a role along with a thing you can make or do that involves the concept (how to make a set of ``Napier's bones'' to help in multiplication, how a topologist can take his vest off without removing the jacket worn over it, a card-file/knitting needle database machine). A child who spends time with this book will learn to see math for the fun game it is.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to find a book that makes math more fun!, June 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: How it works: how math works (Hardcover)

A great resource for teaching math to kids from the very young to upper middle school. This wonderfully illustrated book covers everything from logic to probability and stats, with a little bit of Trig & Algebra thrown in for good measure. Each subject is covered to a reasonable depth in brief, simple language. There are oodles of 'feast-for-the-eyes' graphics, games, biography bits, obscure math facts, experiments, try-its, and tricks. The emphasis is on 'learning by doing' and makes good on the author's promise to "Share the Wonders of Mathematics"