Magical Maze (Royal Institution Christmas Lectures) [Import] [Paperback]

Ian Stewart (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 28 pages
• Publisher: BBC Educational Publishing (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 095321110X
• ISBN-13: 978-0953211104
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful introduction to recreational mathematics!, November 29, 2005

By 

T. J. Ellis (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Magical Maze: Seeing the World Through Mathematical Eyes (Paperback)

Other reviewers have criticized this book for its lack of detail and mathematical depth. Although that may be true for the experienced mathematician, this is an EXCELLENT introduction to the world of recreational mathematics. This book shows that math can be fun and useful and explains it in a way that anyone can understand. I often wondered, when I was younger, where logic tied in with math... I loved logic games and puzzles, things labeled as "math games" but I hated "math" -- arithmatic is totally lame. This book completely bridges the gap between logic games and mathematics and submerses the reader in a whole new, wonderful world. However, if you are already familiar with this world it may feel kind of like watching Seseme Street -- entertaining, but attempting to teach things you learned long ago. Either way it's an entertaining and educational (for the non-mathematician) romp in the frivolities of mathematics.

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed my view of math., October 3, 2011

By 

Ken - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magical Maze: Seeing the World Through Mathematical Eyes (Hardcover)

If you are already familiar with math, then this book won't be all that interesting to you. It doesn't go into too much depth about the mathematical principles behind the concepts it discusses, and it doesn't involve all that much actual math.

This book is really targetted towards people who never really saw math as anything other than another subject they hated in school, and it seeks to change their mind.

I was never that much of a "math person" before I read this book, and I just saw math as another subject in school, and I got average grades in math, and that was all it was to me.

This book taught me how to "think like a mathematician". I started to find myself actually liking math, and lo and behold, my grades even improved.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who has an ill view of mathematics, and would like to improve their general experience with it.

You might even find that you actually like math once you start looking at it as something besides a bunch of useless numbers, or a difficult class to get past.

11 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars suitable for students in grade 10-12 BUT NOT FOR ME, January 5, 1999

By 

"altrau" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magical Maze: Seeing the World Through Mathematical Eyes (Hardcover)

The content in this book is suitable only for beginners. If u think that u are quite familiar with recreational mathematic, this book is quite tedious and have no new topic.