What's so funny about math? Lots! Especially if you're mathematically bent. In the world of Colin Adams, differential equations bring on tears of laughter. Hollywood producers hire algebraic geometers to punch up a script. In this world, math and humor are synonymous. Riot at the Calc Exam is a proof of this fact. A collection of humorous math stories, this book gives a window into mathematics and the culture of mathematicians. Appropriate for mathematicians, math students, math teachers, lay people with an interest in mathematics, and indeed everyone else. This book is a romp through the wild world of mathematics.
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Finally, a collection of hilarious mathematical stories by Colin Adams! ...I'm very pleased to see that this book is available because Colin Adams is the funniest mathematician I know... ------ Mathematical Fiction (Blog)
This book would make a great gift for that special person in your life who likes to read funny stories about math ...my Funny-o-Meter was definitely pointing somewhere between "amazing" and "hilarious." ... rush for a copy...the reading is murderously funny, but includes some subtleties to think [about]. ----The Math Less Traveled (Blog)
...a funny book. The author plays everything for laughs, and there s a lot to laugh at. ...I consider [the author] one of the funniest mathematicians I have ever met. This book bears that out. --Cap Khoury, Not About Apples (Blog)
This book would make a great gift for that special person in your life who likes to read funny stories about math ...my Funny-o-Meter was definitely pointing somewhere between "amazing" and "hilarious." ... rush for a copy...the reading is murderously funny, but includes some subtleties to think [about]. ----The Math Less Traveled (Blog)
...a funny book. The author plays everything for laughs, and there s a lot to laugh at. ...I consider [the author] one of the funniest mathematicians I have ever met. This book bears that out. --Cap Khoury, Not About Apples (Blog)
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LOL,
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This review is from: Riot at the Calc Exam and Other Mathematically Bent Stories (Paperback)
The back cover claims the book is "Appropriate for mathematicians, math students...and indeed everyone else". Well, I am not sure that the book will make a good surprise birthday present for just any non-mathematical "else". Perhaps the "else" should be restricted to the subset who have had occasion to cringe at the oddball math journals thrusting at them from the library rack, with their incomprehensible jargon-laden titles and abstracts. Such a reader might appreciate the constant put downs of the "bad guys" in the stories, the contributors to said journals. But only those who appreciate math, those who can see the mistake on the front cover of the book, those with a good training in at least the standard university calculus curriculum, will experience the smug satisfaction of "getting it", meaning experiencing some really good mathematics in the stories. With so many anti-hero mathematicians featured in the stories, the reader is allowed to freshly ponder questions like: What good is this math for me? Is it more beautiful and useful, now that the professionals have had their foibles exposed?
Perhaps mathematics, by definition (ha ha), is inevitably a serious subject. If not, then why didn't the niche market in math humor blossom a long time ago? The book has some serious endnotes about the math concepts featured in the stories. Perhaps the book needs a more serious introduction as well. For example, think of what Jewish jokes have done for Judaism -- it is difficult to imagine the field having survived and prospered without being buoyed up by the humor. In the long run, maybe humor could eventually play a similar role for professional mathematics.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Humorous Math Essays,
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This review is from: Riot at the Calc Exam and Other Mathematically Bent Stories (Paperback)
Colin Adams is an accomplished mathematician and a prolific author. For example, his book on knot theory, The Knot Book, is beautifully written. His book How to Ace Calculus, written with Abigail Thompson and Joel Hass, is a very useful text (I've used it with my own children), and it is full of humor. The present book, Riot at the Calc Exam, is a collection of humorous short essays, most of which have previously appeared in the Mathematical Intelligencer. I think the essay that gave its title to the book is the best; when I read it I laughed so much the tears rolled down my cheeks.
The audience for this book is probably quite small; math grads and profs are the obvious readership, and it isn't clear that the book would appeal to a much larger readership. Also, the kind of humor is best consumed in small doses. I wouldn't advise reading the book in a single reading. One story per week would be about right.
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