Arithmetic
by Paul Lockhart · first published 2017
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Educator Paul Lockhart's goal is to demystify arithmetic: to bring the subject to life in a fun and accessible way, and to reveal its profound and simple beauty, as seen through the eyes of a modern research mathematician. The craft of arithmetic arises from our natural desire to count, arrange, and compare quantities. Over the centuries, humans have devised a wide variety of strategies for representing and manipulating numerical information: tally marks, rocks and beads, marked-value and place-value systems, as well as mechanical and electronic calculators. Arithmetic traces the history and d
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This may be a bit too elementary, but I recently read “Arithmatic” by Paul Lockwood and found it easy, provocative, and fascinating. https://www.amazon.com/Arithmetic-Paul-Lockhart/dp/067497223...
on “Ask HN: Are there books for mathematics like Feynman's lectures on physics?” ↗Seconded. also consider Lockhart's "Arithmetic". Bear in mind. These are both non-orthodox style books. Burn Math Class least orthodox. An orthodox approach to Analysis would be Terence Tao's Analysis books. Further recommendations depend on your…
on “Ask HN: Serious mathematics books that can replace a good teacher?” ↗Arithmetic by Paul Lockhart https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674237513
on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗Arithmetic by Lockhart is also a gem.
on “Ask HN: Math books that made you significantly better at math?” ↗…used a printed multiplication table while tackling some more-interesting problems[0], and let the table soak in as a byproduct. It went quickly and did not turn me off on math for life. Paul Lockhart in Arithmetic also recommended this. [0]: Multiplying two-digit numbers by one-digit, and that sort of thing. Lockhart had more artistic pursuits in mind. (An obvious reason this might not apply: I was more talented…
on “In Math Cram Sessions, Solving for Why” ↗