So we're off to a flying start for August's theme of Science and Mathematics, with two books that look at numbers.
Tasch read a book that will make you (hopefully) fall in love with numbers, while Sharon read a book where a man named "The Number" did a real number on the main character.
Tasch read a book that will make you (hopefully) fall in love with numbers, while Sharon read a book where a man named "The Number" did a real number on the main character.
Natascha Kucurs read Woo’s
Wonderful World of Maths, by Eddie
Woo.
So for those of you who are wondering why you would pick
this up; in his own words Eddie describes this read as, “A book about maths for
those who say they don’t like maths”. Gottcha Eddie, that would be me!
Eddie is a highly revered math teacher who gained serious
traction as a ‘WooTube’ sensation, after sharing video of his math lessons
online. I can’t find any evidence of Eddie
stereotypically having to resort to slapping rulers on desks or pegging chalk.
Quite to the contrary, Eddie has won a bucketload of awards for his teaching
prowess.
It may just be this perspective that means he is able to
pique the curiosity of the mathematically challenged with chapters like E is a
magic number, What sunflowers know about the universe, Killer butterflies,
Illuminati confirmed, Why aren't left-handers extinct? and Why your pancreas is
like a pendulum.
So after some reading and navel gazing (is my pancreas near
my navel?) being a fan of patterns, just
not the numerical kind, I can now more easily visualise some real relationship
between math and the larger universe I inhabit. Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths
makes for both an entertaining and thought provoking read that could
possibly leave you with a greater appreciation of the art.
Australian author I haven't read before, non-fiction, 510 WOO
Sharon Bryan read Casino Royale, by Ian Flemming.
Casino Royale is the first book in the James Bond series by Ian Flemming. This is the book that kick-started the whole Bond phenomena - and it's a gripping, if brutal book. How did I fit it into the theme of Science and Mathematics? Well, a) it's set in a casino, and the game at the centre of the book - baccarat - is based around probability, and b) the main baddy in the book is a man named Le Chiffre, which is French for "The Number" (also "The Cypher").
If you don't know the game of baccarat, and you're wondering if a novel that features the game heavily is going to be confusing, don't worry - the book explains how to play. It also explains what Bond likes to eat, what he likes to drive, what he likes to wear, what he likes to see other people wearing, what the curtains are like in the room he just entered... Ian Fleming is one of those authors - the kind who paints a picture of his protagonist's surroundings at all times.
But it's also an action packed piece of work. There are explosions, torture scenes, shootings, fisticuffs and intense stand-offs around the card table (which isn't all that action-y, but still keeps the story flying). Is Bond a violent, selfish, sexist chauvinist? Yes, yes he is. Do you read some of the things he thinks and want to slap him across the face? Yes, yes you do. Do you want to see what happens next? Absolutely.
Oh, by the way, we have all of the Bond books, so you can read about Bond getting beaten up and almost killed in every single one of them.
Non-fiction, 820 FLEM 1B CAS
Sharon Bryan read Casino Royale, by Ian Flemming.
If you don't know the game of baccarat, and you're wondering if a novel that features the game heavily is going to be confusing, don't worry - the book explains how to play. It also explains what Bond likes to eat, what he likes to drive, what he likes to wear, what he likes to see other people wearing, what the curtains are like in the room he just entered... Ian Fleming is one of those authors - the kind who paints a picture of his protagonist's surroundings at all times.
But it's also an action packed piece of work. There are explosions, torture scenes, shootings, fisticuffs and intense stand-offs around the card table (which isn't all that action-y, but still keeps the story flying). Is Bond a violent, selfish, sexist chauvinist? Yes, yes he is. Do you read some of the things he thinks and want to slap him across the face? Yes, yes you do. Do you want to see what happens next? Absolutely.
Oh, by the way, we have all of the Bond books, so you can read about Bond getting beaten up and almost killed in every single one of them.
Non-fiction, 820 FLEM 1B CAS
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