The Colossal Book of Mathematics

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• pjungwir · Dec 18, 2012 · Recommends

  …and easy read. In fact it looks like Dover has all kinds of short treatments of math subjects suitable to the layperson. And if you don't know about Martin Gardner, you really must check him out! _The Colossal Book of Mathematics_ and _The Night is Large_ are both wonderful big collections, and there are tons of smaller sets of essays.

  on “Graph Coloring, or Proof by Crayon” ↗
• pjungwir · Jul 4, 2020 · Recommends

  I second this! Gardner would be something more recreational and fun than a lot else out there. The Colossal Book of Mathematics is a good way to get a lot in one place. The Night is Large is also great but less math-focused. I don't see any recommendations for Smullyan yet. The Lady or the Tiger is the classic I think, but I…

  on “Ask HN: Recommend a maths book for a teenager?” ↗
• calstad · Jun 13, 2025 · Recommends

  These fall more in the "pop-sci" realm, but I think are really good at trying to convey what kinds of things working mathematicians actually think about: - Colossal Book of Mathematics by Martin Gardner: Uses games and recreational math to introduce areas like group theory and topology. - Finding Moonshine by Marcus Du Sautoy: Tells the story of the unexpected connection between two…

  on “Ask HN: Casual Math Book Suggestions” ↗
• pjungwir · Dec 12, 2014 · Recommends

  …inheritance is a "scarce resource" and should be used sparingly. The discussion of `equals()` might convince you to switch to Ruby. :-) How about math? Get any collection of essays by Martin Gardner. The Colossal Book of Mathematics is more a bedside/restroom book than one for a bus, but they also publish many thin collections like Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi. Javascript: The Good Parts by Crockford…

  on “Ask HN: What are some good, lightweight reads on computing?” ↗
• cableshaft · Jul 25, 2021 · Recommends

  Well, I picked up the Colossal Book of Mathematics[1] by him after hearing about it and I'm having a lot of fun with it myself (it's just a bunch of really interesting math topics written really well, that are sparking my game designer brain), but yeah,…

  on “Ask HN: Why Martin Gardner is no longer popular?” ↗
• mdp2021 · Jul 24, 2022 · Mentions

  …unusual properties, published on December 1, 1956. The Scientific American has it online, but paywalled. Found it: https://archive.org/details/martingardnerthecolossalbookofma... in Martin Gardner - The Colossal Book Of Mathematics (page 385)

  on “Hexaflexagons [video] (2012)” ↗