Customer Reviews

Mathematics: A Human Endeavor (3rd Edition)

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I'm a 36-year old homeschooling mother who had done calculus in high school and college, and mechanically got some right answers, but never knew why. I hadn't bothered to slow down and notice the beauty and power of the language of mathematics. In his textbook, Mathematics: A Human Endeavor, Harold Jacobs smashed my lack of confidence into a million pieces. He showers the student with so much real-life relevance and humor, that even a slight amount of curiosity about the subject bears delicous fruit. Working through this book will convince any human being, of almost any age, that he or she is a born mathematician.

What's so truly impressive about Jacobs' book is the way in which he demonstrates that math is all around. His choice of subjects provides the reader with a broad introduction to the mathematical sciences, including geometry, probability, combinatorics, statistics, topology and more. More importantly, his examples and explanations make it relevant and fun.

Jacobs' writing is clear (which cannot be said for many books on math at any level) and his organization sweeps the reader right along. Though technically a textbook, this is excellent reading for anyone who's interested in learning about math. I read it in junior high school, and have re-read bits and pieces as I progressed through college and graduate school. His subjects are complex enough to merit rethinking, yet his explanations clear enough to be grasped by the first time reader.

Truly one of the great introductory math texts -- especially for those who think they don't need to know or can't understand math.

I stumbled across this book when I was 17 whilst rummaging in my school library. It was too late for me to use it as my workbook but I enjoyed reading it nevertheless. My sole regret was that had I found it earlier than I might have had success in teaching my fellow students the joys of mathematics. The book is beautifully designed with gorgeous graphics to demonstrate mathematical ideas. There are also wonderful cartoons that people on this side of the Atlantic may never get to see otherwise. This is the book (with its companion "Geometry") that I give all my nephews/nieces on their 10th birthday so that they may not claim that they were deprived of good maths tuition.

Around 1976, Donald Knuth, a giant in computer science, then at Stanford, asked me how he could get hold of Mathematics: A Human Endeavor because he wanted to begin his son's education using it. He said that all computer science and mathematics was problem solving and he liked Jacobs's book because it engaged students immediately with interesting problems - ones that led somewhere. Knuth's hopes for the book were realized, and the one correction he noted was taken into account in the next edition.

The Preface to this third edition is by Martin Gardner, who wrote the prefaces for the previous editions as well. Gardner begins with a quote from Ralph Boas, whose reply to someone who said to him "You make mathematics seem like fun" was "If it isn't fun, why do it?" Jacobs makes mathematics fun, and he shows you that it is useful as well. Yes, there are uses for otherwise dull computation. That is part of the power of mathematics.

I am a mathematician. I taught a course at Bard College using this book. One of my students told me that her mother asked her what she was doing and she replied "Mathematics." Her mother replied, "You hate mathematics;" she replied, "Not anymore." Jacobs shows us that thoughtful writing that respects students and subject material can raise education to a higher level.

Start here. Back your efforts with the Teacher's Guide, which is a rich resource. Then explore further. There is a marvelous world out there.

And, yes, as you explore it you will learn to read, to write down your thoughts and conclusions, and to do arithmetic.

Amazon has a link above offering this title new or used in paperback... it's actually a WORKBOOK but because i trusted the web page and didn't take care to recognize a change in author i now have a worthless student workbook...

This is a great book high school students will enjoy using to explore a number of concepts. Its subtitle is quite apt: "A Textbook for Those Who Think They Don't Like the Subject."

The book has 10 chapters:

1. The Mathematical Way of Thinking
2. Number Sequences
3. Functions and their Graphs
4. Large Numbers and Logarithms
5. Regular Polygons
6. Mathematical Curves
7. Some Methods of Counting
8. The Mathematics of Chance
9. An Introduction to Statistics
10. Some Topics in Topology

Each chapter contains a number of lessons, each of which is rich with interesting exploration problems. As an example, chapter 1 has 6 lessons with delightful investigations:

1. The mathematics behind the path of a billiard ball on a frictionless table. Students are guided to use graph paper to create "tables" of different dimensions and to track the ball's path on each of these. Stimulating questions lead the student to think about fractions, and relative primeness of numbers.
2. Optical illusions.
3. A nice area paradox based on the Fibonacci sequence, in which a rectangle is dissected in such a way that when the pieces are reassembled into a square the square appears to have a smaller area than the rectangle.
4. Dissection and coloring explorations with 3-dimensional figures.
5. Number tricks and the algebra behind them.

Other chapters are equally rich with interesting guided explorations. The book also contains many drawings, illustrations, and cartoons.

I highly recommend Mathematics: A Human Endeavor to all students and adults alike who want to explore a number of interesting and not too difficult problems with a very enthusiastic guide who makes the exploration fun. All it takes is a little curiosity and this book can take you a long way.

This was my textbook in 5th and 6th grade 1985-86 and it definitely set me off on the right path mathwise, a path which ended in a B.A. in math at UCSC. I can't blame my propensity for math all on this book, but it was my first exposure to the concept that math can be fun. With this book, you just can't say math is boring!

Great book for kids that have a really hard time understanding left-brain logic of numbers. Focuses on the type of logic. Not really for quick help or referrence, but good way to teach the subject to "different learners".

Mathematics: A Human Endeavor is not a primer textbook, rather it is a peak into the applications of Mathematics.

There are many anecdotes and historical lessons that follow naturally into exercises. There is a chapter on how the hexagon is the most efficient structure to build a mosaic, then examples are given that illustrate why pentagons or squares are not optimal for building a beehive. There are many historical lessons, such as where a concept originated from, or who propagated a certain branch of mathematics, and this adds to the experience of seeing mathematics develop throughout the book.

The purpose of this textbook is clearly to pique your interest and not instruct. The book is filled with ancient puzzles and formulas for a given scenario, but you never learn to apply it elsewhere. The photographs in the book are difficult to see, this is exacerbated when an exercise asks you to count something indistinguishable. A lot of exercises ask you for impractical things, listed from most practical to least: Ruler, Protractor, Tracing paper, Scissors, Rubber band, Cards, Candles, Two mirrors, and a Razor Blade(for cutting the candle). There are several exercises that ask you to trace something and make several figures, then put them together, or make 10 copies of a figure and try to solve an ancient puzzle, the concept is to physically put the geometric shapes together, however, in practice, it is tedious.

I would recommend this pseudo-textbook for piquing your interest in mathematics, not as an elementary textbook for trying to teach yourself, or others math, but rather of its many applications. Furthermore, I advise skipping the arts and crafts exercises and exerting judgment on which problems are reasonable and which are ridiculous.

This is a wonderful way to learn mathematics. It makes simple things you thought you could never learn