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Hans Magnus Enzensberger
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The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure Paperback – May 1, 2000

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 791 ratings
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The international best-seller that makes mathematics a thrilling exploration

In twelve dreams, Robert, a boy who hates math, meets a Number Devil, who leads him to discover the amazing world of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that magically appear in triangles, and numbers that expand without end. As we dream with him, we are taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone―from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads―winds up marveling at what numbers can do.

Hans Magnus Enzensberger is a true polymath, the kind of superb intellectual who loves thinking and marshals all of his charm and wit to share his passions with the world. In The Number Devil, he brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach them.

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  1. Reading age
    9 - 12 years, from customers
  2. Print length
    264 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    5 - 6
  5. Lexile measure
    580L
  6. Dimensions
    6.25 x 0.55 x 9.25 inches
  7. Publisher
    Holt Paperbacks
  8. Publication date
    May 1, 2000
  9. ISBN-10
    0805062998
  10. ISBN-13
    978-0805062991
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a starred review, PW noted that "exceptionally handsome four-color illustrations and vignettes deepen the magic of this mathematically minded fantasy. For certain kinds of readersAchess players, puzzle enthusiastsAthis will be a favorite." Ages 11-up. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Rare and glorious.” ―Michael Pakenham, Baltimore Sun

“Entertaining, amusingly illustrated . . . Adults who know a little about math will find this book as enlightening as younger readers will.” ―Martin Gardner, Los Angeles Times

"Charming and seductive . . . We all might learn more if we each had an Enzensbergian devil to beguile us into a dream and to give us a glimpse of the beauty and power of mathematics." ―John Allen Paulos, The New York Review of Books

"Interesting and fun at the same time." ―The Guardian

"Exceptionally handsome four-color illustrations and vignettes deepen the magic of this mathematically minded fantasy. . . . Even mathematical equations look festive here, hand-printed in warm muted tones. . . . This will be a favorite." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Holt Paperbacks (May 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0805062998
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805062991
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12 years, from customers
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 580L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 6
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.55 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 791 ratings

About the author

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Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Hans Magnus Enzensberger

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Hans Magnus Enzensberger is one of Germany's greatest living writers. In The Number Devil he has written a book that is essential reading for anyone - of any age who has ever been mystified by maths. The author lives in Munich.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
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791 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

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5.0 out of 5 stars Leave a positive impact on someone’s life
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2024
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This is an excellent book for different ages. I read it as a child, and still remember the impact it had on me and the way I approach math nowadays. It is entertaining and the drawings are pretty too. Excellent to gift to your children.
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Tom McGee
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Book That Sparks an Interest in Math
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2011
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The aim of The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger with Illustrations by Rotraut Susanne Berner is to make mathematics fun and interesting.

The star of the book is a fictional 12-year-old boy named Robert who hates his mathematics class.Robert is visited in his dream for 12 nights, each serving as a chapter to introduce number concepts by The Number Devil, an ingenious mathematical magician who we learn late in the book is named Teplotaxl.

The book uses fun easy to remember terms to introduce concepts--for example, Prima Donnas are prime numbers, Hopping is raising a number to a higher power, Hopping backwards is taking the root, while hopping twice is squaring twice.
This is not an easy book, but it presents concepts in a thought provoking manner that sparks the interest of those from 12 and above to take the time to learn. Interesting tricks, properties and characteristics of numbers make this worthwhile for the masses.

My last Algebra class was in college in 1974. I don't remember most of the concepts. I don't remember the face or name of any of the students in that class or even the Professor; however, I do remember one of the tricks that professor used to spark our interests. While that trick is not in this book it serves to tell you the type things that are in this book.

That trick is this. The square of any two digit number ending in 5 will always end in 25. The first digit can be found by multiplying the number by itself and then adding that number to it. For example--25 squared is found by 2 x 2 + 2 = 6 followed by an ending of 25 = 625. Another example is 85 squared = 8 x 8 + 8 ending in 25 = 7225 while 95 squared = 9 x 9 + 9 = 90 with 25 behind it = 9025.

While that particular mathematical trick is not in the book, the point is that math presented in the manner of this book and that of my 1974 algebra teacher make learning fun and it will stick with the learner for years to come.

I recommend this book to students, parents, teachers and those who enjoy or wish they could enjoy mathematics. Enjoy!
7 people found this helpful
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Tricia Suglian
5.0 out of 5 stars Appropriate for all grade levels!
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2022
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I bought this book based on a recommendation from a math forum. I noticed many reviewers were mentioning how they bought it for young children and thought it would be appropriate for elementary school kids only. I was pleasantly suprised! There are many rich mathematical ideas that can be taken to any level of depth. These topics could easily be talked about in middle school and high school. I'm using it for middle school summer math camp and we will dig into each topic as a number talk. I think it is accessible for multiple levels of students.
5 people found this helpful
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Eric Price
4.0 out of 5 stars A great complement to any early-middle Math coursework!
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2015
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The Number Devil represents one of the many ways teachers like myself can bring literature into a Mathematics classroom. Pitting the protagonist, Robert, against an “evil” devil representing the toils of Math homework/classwork, the book softens the edges of your traditional Math lecture. This idea of turning Math into an enjoyable, quirky story can have a huge impact on its target audience, Math students of late elementary to middle school classrooms. Robert's attitude immediately forges a connection with students. They (and I) can see Robert's reluctance to cooperate with this Devil (at first) in their own personalities, trudging through every day Math ideas. The real beauty of this book is it's ability to spark enthusiasm and motivation toward learning new ideas. My students can read along the brief chapters, watching Robert's resentment of the Number Devil slowly dissipate, and about midway through, Robert grows eager to complete the Devil's many Mathematical challenges. The ideas presented in the book can easily be transferred into activities for young classes to actively experience Mathematical phenomena for themselves! From the chapter explaining that the number 1 is the basis of every number we can imagine, I've designed a fun activity where my students made mobiles with the number 1 at the top, branching off into each type of number they can imagine (fractions, decimals, tens, hundreds, etc.). I've also recently had my classes create an alphabetical dictionary of the ideas they see pop up in this book. The book takes traditional definitions and manipulates them to a form suitable for kids' enjoyment. This can lead to unbelievable increases in your students' retention of ideas, as they think back to Robert and the Devil, rather than “What did Mr. Price write on the board that day?”. To touch on the book's presentation and functionality, the book is an easy read, with colorful illustrations to disguise the “boring” Math our students may be expecting. The chapters are short and to the point, each introducing a new idea for both Robert and my students to “warm up to”, through playful interactions. I will note some dislikes of mine, primarily stating that the book contains an unfair difficulty spike. It is important to note that when transferring Math into this storybook form, we are far away from a linear textbook, and this uneven learning curve should be expected. Through the course of the book, a class who benefits from the early chapters (counting, infinity, fractions, etc.) may not have a grasp on the later chapters (square roots, geometries, etc.). Likewise, a class who benefits from the deeper final chapters may snooze all the way through the first half of the book. This is a minor complaint, as again, the book is obviously not a replacement for any single grade's curriculum. The book is meant to compliment and “shake up” your coursework to give students more enjoyment toward the subject. It does just that. Harder ideas can simply spark interest in younger readers, while older readers can reflect on what they've already learned and see these ideas in a new lens. In a perfect world this book can be used for nothing else other than motivation, as you may see your students' attitudes transform much like their new identifiable main character Robert's does. Pick up a copy if you're looking for some new ideas for your 4th - 8th graders this school year, don't let your students begin to stigmatize the typical Math classroom at such young ages!
11 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars The book was as advertised and on time.
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2023
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The book was as advertised and on time.
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Warrior Princess
5.0 out of 5 stars Number Theory for Kids: Fun and Exciting
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2013
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Number theory is an exciting area of math that many schools do not teach, or do not teach enough, because they focus on basic math skills. And, quite often, basic can mean boring, especially for students who have mastered those basic skills.

This book (and the game with the same title) presents such concepts as Fibonacci numbers, Pascal's triangle, natural numbers, infinite series, factorials, permutations, and other fun concepts in an interactive and engaging way.

I bought this book for my son, and we both reading it and learning (or reviewing, in my case!) a lot of these concepts. The only issue I had with this book (and the game) is that the authors make up some of their own terms instead of using the terms accepted by mathematicians.

There are not too many books or games that present math as fun and exciting, and this is one of them. If you have any interest in math (or would like to develop such interest in yourself or your kids), try it! You won't regret it.
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Top reviews from other countries

Michèle
5.0 out of 5 stars Both for math lovers and haters
Reviewed in Canada on September 4, 2021
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We brought it camping. My son who loves math loved it and so did a friend who hates math. It was good enough to get kids to read and read about math on top of it during rainy day in camping.
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Maya
5.0 out of 5 stars 9-year-old daughter loved this book
Reviewed in Germany on April 30, 2021
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My third grade daughter devoured this book in a few days and came away with many new math concepts to share with us. She said she liked the book because it didn't actually make her solve math problems. :) She's asked for more books in the same genre-- off to see if the author has written anything else!
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Paloma Trejo
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in Mexico on June 1, 2019
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Interesting and easy to read for teenagers
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Daniele
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, light and well written
Reviewed in Italy on October 19, 2020
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I'm recently trying to get back into maths and decided to buy this book. It's surely for kids but either I found it really enjoyable and interesting. The author did a good job.
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Quick Brown Fox
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspires the recreational mathematician in you
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2020
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Bought for a six year old, as bedtime reading. Three years later, he still re-reads it several times a year and takes it everywhere. It has inspired a love of mathematics in him, and he has become quite the young recreational mathematician.
The renamed concepts and words made it easier for him to digest the story first as a work of fiction then, as he re-read it, as an introduction to the fun bits in maths. Wish there were more books like this.
3 people found this helpful
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