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Barbara Oakley PhD

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A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) Kindle Edition

by Barbara Oakley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The companion book to COURSERA®'s wildly popular massive open online course "Learning How to Learn"

Whether you are a student struggling to fulfill a math or science requirement, or you are embarking on a career change that requires a new skill set, A Mind for Numbers offers the tools you need to get a better grasp of that intimidating material. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options—both to rise in the military and to explore other careers—she returned to school with a newfound determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.

In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to learning effectively—secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they’d known earlier. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Most people think that there’s only one way to do a problem, when in actuality, there are often a number of different solutions—you just need the creativity to see them. For example, there are more than three hundred different known proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. In short, studying a problem in a laser-focused way until you reach a solution is not an effective way to learn. Rather, it involves taking the time to step away from a problem and allow the more relaxed and creative part of the brain to take over. The learning strategies in this book apply not only to math and science, but to any subject in which we struggle. We all have what it takes to excel in areas that don't seem to come naturally to us at first, and learning them does not have to be as painful as we might think.

Review

“If you struggled through math and slept through science, there’s hope. In A Mind for Numbers, polymath Barbara Oakley reveals how to unlock the analytic powers of our brains so we can learn how to learn. This book should be required reading for students—and for my mother.”
—Adam Grant, New York Times-bestselling author of The Originals

“A good teacher will leave you educated. But a great teacher will leave you curious. Well, Barbara Oakley is a great teacher. Not only does she have a mind for numbers, she has a way with words, and she makes every one of them count.”
—Mike Rowe, creator and host of Discovery Channel’s "Dirty Jobs" and CEO of mikeroweWORKS

"Superb not only for those who are struggling or who are expert at math, but for readers who wish to think and comprehend more efficiently."
—Library Journal

“An ingeniously accessible introduction to the science of human cognition—along with practical advice on how to think better.”
—James Taranto, The Wall Street Journal

“In my book The Math Instinct, I described how we have known since the early 1990s that all ordinary people can do mathematics, and in The Math Gene, I explained why the capacity for mathematical thinking is both a natural consequence of evolution and yet requires effort to unleash it. What I did not do is show how to tap in to that innate ability. Professor Oakley does just that.”
—Keith Devlin, NPR Weekend Edition’s “Math Guy”

“A wonderful book! How do you come to love math and science, and how do you come to learn math and science? Read A Mind for Numbers. Barbara Oakley is the magician who will help you do both.”
—Francisco J. Ayala, University Professor and Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, and former President and Chairman of the Board, American Association for the Advancement of Science

“Being good at science and mathematics isn’t just something you are; it’s something you become. This users’ guide to the brain unmasks the mystery around achieving success in mathematics and science. I have seen far too many students opt out when they hit a rough patch. But now that learners have a handy guide for ‘knowing better’ they will also be able to ‘do better.’”
—Shirley Malcom, Head of Education and Human Resources Programs, American Association for the Advancement of Science

“A Mind for Numbers is an excellent book about how to approach mathematics, science, or any realm where problem solving plays a prominent role.”
—J. Michael Shaughnessy, Past President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

“I have not been this excited about a book in a long time. Giving students deep knowledge on how to learn will lead to higher retention and student success in every field. It is a gift that will last them a lifetime.”
—Robert R Gamache, Ph.D., Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and International Relations, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

”A Mind for Numbers helps put students in the driver’s seat—empowering them to learn more deeply and easily. This outstanding book is also a useful resource for instructional leaders. Given the urgent need for America to improve its science and math education so it can stay competitive, A Mind for Numbers is a welcome find.”
—Geoffrey Canada, President, Harlem Children's Zone

"It's easy to say 'work smarter, not harder,' but Barbara Oakley actually shows you how to do just that, in a fast-paced and accessible book that collects tips based on experience and sound science. In fact, I'm going to incorporate some of these tips into my own teaching."
—Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, The University of Tennessee

“A Mind for Numbers is a splendid resource for how to approach mathematics learning and in fact learning in any area. Barbara Oakley’s authoritative guide is based on the latest research in the cognitive sciences, and provides a clear, concise, and entertaining roadmap for how to get the most out of learning. This is a must-read for anyone who has struggled with mathematics and anyone interested in enhancing their learning experience.”
—David C. Geary, Curators’ Professor of Psychological Sciences and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, University of Missouri

“For students afraid of math and science and for those who love the subjects, this engaging book provides guidance in establishing study habits that take advantage of how the brain works.”
—Deborah Schifter, Principal Research Scientist, Science and Mathematics Programs, Education Development Center, Inc.

“A Mind for Numbers explains the process of learning in a fascinating and utterly memorable way. This book is a classic, not only for learners of all ages, but for teachers of all kinds.”
—Frances R. Spielhagen, Ph.D., Director, Center for Adolescent Research and Development, Mount Saint Mary College --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Thomas Edison is one of the most prolific inventors in history, with over one thousand patents to his name. Nothing got in the way of his creativity. Even as his lab was burning to the ground in a horrific accidental fire, Edison was excitedly sketching up plans for a new lab, even bigger and better than before. How could Edison be so phenomenally creative? The answer, as you’ll see, relates to his unusual tricks for shifting his mode of thinking.

Shifting between the focused and diffuse modes

For most people, shifting from focused to diffuse mode happens naturally if you distract yourself and then allow a little time to pass. You can go for a walk, take a nap, or go to the gym. Or you can work on something that occupies other parts of your brain: listening to music, conjugating Spanish verbs, or cleaning your gerbil cage The key is to do something else until your brain is consciously free of any thought of the problem. Unless other tricks are brought into play, this generally takes several hours. You may say – I don’t have that kind of time. You do, however, if you simply switch your focus to other things you need to do, and mix in a little relaxing break time.

Creativity expert Howard Gruber has suggested that one of the three "B’s" usually seems to do the trick: the bed, the bath, or the bus One remarkably inventive chemist of the mid-1800s, Alexander Williamson, observed that a solitary walk was worth a week in the laboratory in helping him progress in his work.(Lucky for him there were no smartphones then.) Walking spurs creativity in many fields; a number of famous writers, for example, including Jane Austen, Carl Sandburg, and Charles Dickens, found inspiration during their frequent long walks.

Once you are distracted from the problem at hand, the diffuse mode has access and can begin pinging about in its big-picture way to settle on a solution. After your break, when you return to the problem at hand, you will often be surprised at how easily the solution pops into place. Even if the solution doesn’t appear, you will often be further along in your understanding. It can take a lot of hard, focused mode work beforehand, but the sudden, unexpected solution that emerges from the diffuse mode can make it feel almost like the "Ah-hah!" mode.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She has received many awards for her teaching, including the coveted National Science Foundation New Century Scholar Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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July 31, 2014
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A good rule of thumb, when you are first learning new concepts, is not to let things go untouched for longer than a day.
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The harder you push your brain to come up with something creative, the less creative your ideas will be.
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But as long as we are consciously focusing on a problem, we are blocking the diffuse mode.
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00G3L19ZU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ TarcherPerigee; 1st edition (July 31, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 31, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 12942 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0593419057

Best Sellers Rank: #53,407 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4 in Study & Test-Taking Skills (Kindle Store)
- #7 in Study Skills (Kindle Store)
- #8 in Memory Improvement (Kindle Store)

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4.6 6,231 ratings

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Barbara Oakley PhD

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I work at Oakland University as a professor of engineering. I started studying engineering much later than many engineering students, because my original intention had been to become a linguist. I enlisted in the U.S. Army right after high school and spent a year studying Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey California. The Army eventually sent me to the University of Washington, where I received my first degree'a B.A. in Slavic Languages and Literature. Eventually, I served four years in Germany as a Signal Officer, and rose to become a Captain.

After my Army commitment ended, I decided to leave the Army and study engineering so that I could better understand the communications equipment I had been working with. Five years later I received a second degree: a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. In the meantime, I worked several fishing seasons as a Russian translator on Soviet trawlers up in the Bering Sea. I wrote a book about that experience in 'Hair of the Dog: Tales from a Russian Trawler.' I also spent a season as the radio operator at the South Pole Station, where Philip and I met. (We were married as soon as we got 'off the ice,' in New Zealand.) With the B.S.E.E. degree in hand I settled down and spent three years working as a instrumentation and controls engineer at a laser research and development firm near Seattle.

We moved to the Detroit area in 1989. I worked for Ford briefly, and then began doing consulting and attending Oakland University part time while our children were small. I received a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1995, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering in 1998. I was hired after my graduation to continue on as a professor at Oakland University.

Since then, I've become interested in learning about people and places using an out-side-the box perspective--as you can tell from my books. I feel compelled to explore ideas and concepts in writing--thank goodness I have a family that's forgiving of my compulsion!

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Megan

Incredible and well-referenced, if you're willing to do the work

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024

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In A Mind for Numbers, Oakley discusses how even a hopeless case can develop a more analytical, creative, mathematical mind. The book has many different studies, books, etc referenced, so if you want to dive in deep, you have the perfect place to start.

Some things you'll learn include the concept of chunking and how to abstract those chunks so you can connect them with other things you already know, therefore raising your chances of not only remembering that information, but being able to use it in other contexts, too. You'll also learn about the two modes of thinking and how the focused type, as admirable as it may be, can keep you from solving problems.

You'll also learn good and bad ways of studying. For example, using an SRS system to test yourself is good. Rereading a book over and over again is bad. (Not that you can't reread a book if you enjoy it...)

The information in Mind for Numbers is brilliantly simple, but it does take work. Depending on how you work now, you may have to change a lot of things. In my opinion, it's worth it. I read Oakley's book much more slowly than I normally read books and have already put some things to use. They're effective, but they require effort. Perhaps one thing that makes them effective is the effort required.

I'd honestly recommend this book to everyone except maybe the most brilliant minds, who are probably already putting at least some of these techniques to use already.

2 people found this helpful

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Pat McL

and recommendations are very useful for everybody who wants to be a SMART 21st ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2017

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A Mind for Numbers is written for students of math and science, but Barbara Oakley’s perspective, interviews, and recommendations are very useful for everybody who wants to be a SMART 21st Century lifelong learner. It is a practical book that reflects the best knowledge about how our brains process things – both logically and creatively, from the details up AND from the ideas down. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn better – or who wants to help a scholar who wants to excel and LEARN in school.

Oakley uses good teaching/learning approaches in this book. It is peppered with stories and even pictures that bring lessons to life. The stories are from very successful scientists – many of whom struggled to learn or were even written off by their teachers. They are stories that say – “persist, be smart about how you learn, and you will succeed.” This, of course, is the learning mindset that is so crucial for discovery and living an unstoppable life.

Oakley also distributes insights about her core topics – building up and reinforcing the key ideas throughout the book. Ultimately, she concludes that 10 practices are critical (she calls them “Ten Rules of Good Studying.” They apply to lifelong learning as well as to learning for school – especially to information and processes you want to remember:

Use recall. Don’t just review what you want to remember. Actively pull your insights out of your own brain. This, of course, is a key practice in my Unstoppable You. Oakley offers many reinforcements of this important way to support learning

Test Yourself. This is something anyone can do about any topic you want to remember. For kids it’s flash cards, for adults it might be asking yourself what you know about a topic before a meeting or reading, and then doing it again afterwards.

Chunk information. Organizing ideas and facts into categories, pictures and diagrams, songs, and other mental files can help you remember and understand at a deeper level. Connecting ideas to what you know and to each other creates more neural connections and thus more ways to find what you need when you need it.

Space repetition. Oakley practices this by revisiting and enhancing these 10 rules throughout this book. The lesson is to work on something for a shorter period of time (30 minutes?) and then do something less demanding. When you return to the learning project later, you will be fresher and your automatic system (she calls it your “diffused processing mode”) will have done some undercover work to process your initial learning.

Alternate different problem-solving techniques. She talks about how this works in math – work on equations for a while, then on verbal problems, then do a test, etc. The point is, don’t get stuck on one way of learning something. Get a variety of perspectives – some big picture, some detailed. This “interleaving” is a pretty valuable approach for any topic.

Take breaks. When you are stuck or tired from focusing on solving a problem/learning, stop and do something that isn’t so taxing. Your automatic (diffused) processing will continue to work on the problem unconsciously and you will be able to have a new perspective when you come back to it.

Use explanatory questioning and simple analogies. Try explaining what you are learning in a simple way – preferably to someone else. Tell them what it is “like” (an example she gives if that the flow of electricity is like the flow of water). This more deeply engrains the knowledge in your brain and may get you some clarifying questions.

Focus. This is a very important and often broken rule. It is clear that your brain can’t work on more than one complex problem at a time. So, as many others suggest, turn off the phones, text messaging, loud music, and create a space where you can concentrate.

Eat your frogs first. That is, do the hardest things first when you have the energy.
Make a mental contrast. This is equivalent to the imagination quality presented in Unstoppable You: see where you want to be and compare it the where you are. Let this be motivating.

There are many specific tips and encouraging comments in this book. And for students, there is a lot of good help related to working with teachers, studying with others, dealing with procrastination, taking tests, dealing with anxiety, letting go of the need to be perfect in order to be open to insights and to correct errors in thinking, remembering facts and methods, and more.

Oakley is a very respected educator who came to the sciences by accident when she was in military service. We should be glad that she discovered math and science and became curious about how to be a master learner and teacher in these areas. We all benefit from her perspective, examples, and tips.

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RSH

A good book

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2016

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This is a great book, but I would not recommend the kindle version.
The kindle version is not horrible, but it was quite uncomfortable for me to use. For the most part, because I felt that for this book I needed to be able to every so often flip back to a previous page, which is not as easy with the kindle as it is with a real book.
About the content, the book tries to give scientifically backed learning strategies and techniques, and does so quite well. The strategies and techniques taught in this book are very well researched, with plenty of references, and not only for STEM subjects, by the way. There are also a lot of anecdotes from other students and teachers throughout the entire book. Each chapter ends with a summary of key concepts, a small question set (without solutions - but none is really necessary or even possible, for questions that require a private answer), and a large reminder to "Pause and Recall" the material that was studied in the chapter - this was in my opinion the best thing in the book. If you do indeed get into the habit of pausing and recalling learned material, then you will most likely study much much better. It is also important, however, to check with the book that you have indeed recalled the material correctly, by looking either at the content of the chapters themselves or the summary.
The book was very readable and quite enjoyable. It is mainly organized into three parts: 1. dealing with procrastination, 2. learning strategies, 3. attitude (such as avoiding overconfidence and minimizing anxiety). The learning strategies can themselves be made into two distinct groups: one that deals with memorization tricks, and one that deals with understanding. Although the two groups are not mutually exclusive.
There is also a lot of emphasis on pointing out what strategies DO NOT work - such as rereading and highlighting.
At the end of the book you can find a quick recap the entire book. This recap is freely available as a PDF on the author's website, titled "10 rules of studying". Just google it, if you are interested.

Be wary that the book is quite verbose. For every idea presented in the text, there are a lot of background stories that are probably there to help anchor the idea with some real world situation, although for some they might be useless and even cumbersome.
Another thing about this book that might be viewed as a drawback, is the author's reliance on metaphors. The concepts of "diffuse" and "focused" thinking modes, for examples, are explained using the metaphor of a pinball machine. Another metaphor is that of vampires for the mechanisms of forgetting in the brain. The metaphors might be helpful, but they also feel awkward.

Overall, I felt the book was great, quite readable, and I am very happy to have read it. The main concept I have taken from this book is the recall technique, where after you learn something, I try to recall it by explaining it to yourself out loud. Throughout the entire book, you are actively reminded to use it.

13 people found this helpful

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Angel

The best book ever for learn

Reviewed in Mexico on July 26, 2023

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It will help you not just to learn but to think and use more your brain
100% recommend

One person found this helpful

Niharika

I CAN DO MATHS NOW! THANK YOU OAKLEY!

Reviewed in India on October 5, 2023

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Well my story just like every other student struggling in mathematics from the start had to do with no consistency, overuse of my mental capacity and well fear. I didn’t know any learning techniques or science behind learning whatsoever. Although I followed the directions or advice given in the book understood working on brain while doing science and maths and well I’ve already completed some 5-6+ maths topics which btw are chapters in other books and are continuing to do more. This book has been tremendous help with strategies on how to actually do maths because strategies used with language subjects are very different and most of us were not taught how to learn, we were just told to do it all and figure it out and somehow score.

Although it might take sometime but i assure you if you actually dedicate yourself to the ways given here and read slowly so you apply whatever is given in your life. You’ll see the results. Its takes slow efforts but is very real!

One person found this helpful

mychoiceisphysics

best learning book, i've found so far

Reviewed in Germany on July 31, 2023

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This Book is no neurobiological masterpiece, the information stated here in terms of brain areas and their function is often oversimplified or misleading (for example the focused mode/frontoparietal network doesn't consist solely of the prefrontal cortex).

However, this book is not about neuroscience, but about cognitive psychology. Barbara Oakley explains logically, aswell as concise and detailed aspects like correlating new with existing information (what she calls chunking), and the co-operation of the diffuse mode and focused mode networks of the brain.
Furthermore, she gives advice on how to memorize creatively and regularly writes quotes from other experienced people in the field.
When reading this Book, u will gain insight into the psychology of learning, and notice that some learning techniques are already unconsciously applied by u.
I will now go into the last "highschool" class (no highschools in germany/different education system), and am excited to apply those learning techniques for school, and later for university, aswell as i'm impressed on how clear and organized my studying for non-scholar topics is.
This book helped me alot, and i would encourage anyone, who wants to learn how to learn, to read this book. It's worth it!

Tip: Read "Mathematical Thinking -(...) Part 2 Advanced Analytical Thinking skills" by Albert Rutherford after u read this Book. It's much more compromised (not that detailed), and first speaks about a few other important aspects of analytical thinking, and how to apply these ways of thinking, on the tips on how to learn, adressed in the book "a mind for numbers".

Andrian

This book will help you learn better, but necessarily better marks.

Reviewed in Canada on October 31, 2020

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I think the information in the book was very useful, and this should be a first read book for many as it will help prepare you for reading and understanding more books. The knowledge in this book did help me learn and understand things better. The information presented here can be used and applied to learn many other things besides math and science. At the time of this review, I am a grade 12 student and getting good marks is another story. I wouldn't say I am a bad student when it comes to marks, but there are other factors when it comes to getting good marks. For example, do you have good textbooks? I have shit textbooks and sometimes understanding things from them is not ideal. Is your teacher good, etc . . . There are many factors that determine good marks. Besides the point don't expect after reading this book that you will start getting 90% and above in school. In my experience sometimes you understand the topic at hand very well and your mark does not reflect that. Its not always a lack of understanding, but it is (in my opinion) a bad education system. I understand that marks are important, but at the end of the day I feel much happier knowing that I understand something, and I am less upset about some crappy assignment that my teacher didn't like my work in. Overall, this is a great book for life. Marks will always be numbers on a paper, but knowledge will help you more in life.

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