Shapereveals the geometry underneath some of the most important scientific, political, and philosophical problems we face. Geometry asks: Where are things? Which things are near each other? How can you get from one thing to another thing? Those are important questions. The word “geometry,” from the Greek for “measuring the world.” If anything, that’s an undersell. Geometry doesn’t just measure the world—it explains it. Shapeshows us how. Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator. understanding through the sorites paradox (at how many grains of wheat do you get a pile), that even if you don't know when something bad starts, you can tell when it's VERY bad. Draw the line there, might be arbitrary but still useful Ellenberg can ramble; there are a few times I felt the book was turning into a primer on COVID-19 modelling (which isn't bad, but didn't feel like the book I started reading). At times, the emphasis on geometry works (especially when discussing huge multi-dimensional spaces), but sometimes I felt he was pushing too hard to make something geometrical (e.g., the SIR model for epidemics). Overall, the theme is there to give Ellenberg a focus, but it's not carried out strongly. Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, P. R. China

One 6 inches by 10 inches rectangle cake - It was a single layer cake baked using my chocolate cake recipe. The book cake would not look nice if it’s too tall, so I made a single layer cake. The height was approximately 2 inches. He focuses a lot on the history of geometry and that was mostly boring. Lots of names that I will never remember.

This was just all over the place for me. At times, it was a two star read and somewhat boring (quite possibly because I know most of the math Ellenberg is describing); at times, it was a wonderful application of mathematical principles.

Unreasonably entertaining . . . reveals how geometric thinking can allow for everything from fairer American elections to better pandemic planning.” — The New York TimesHe’s approaching the problem just the way a mathematician would – starting from the end of the game. That’s no surprise; we are all mathematicians in the deep strategic parts of our brain, whether it says that on our business cards or not. p. 115 Ellenberg likes to focus on the literary history of his mathematical interests, so we get a number of mathematician/poets. (Usually, they are better at mathematics.) And, in general, he explains well the cultural milieu of the times. I'm somewhat surprised that I first learned that Tolstoy was excommunicated in a popular mathematics book. Did you know Einstein played violin on the street for extra cash? Or that Gauss was often only a few steps ahead of his debts? Or that Wordsworth (the poet) and Lincoln (the politician) were excellent mathematicians? Can you even imagine the last president read Euclid for fun!? Oh and my favorite bit -- Karl Pearson, the correlations guy, apparently looked like a Greek God. He also taught his class the law of large numbers by throwing 10,000 pennies on the floor and making students count the heads. I remember the dreary day I was taught that theorem. Yikes. Maybe this is how we should teach math! These bags are not just gifts, but meaningful expressions of thought and care. They're stylish, practical, and full of character – just like their soon-to-be owners. With this gift, they can show off their favourite titles in a unique and fashionable way, sparking conversations about beloved books and authors, all while keeping their essentials organised. It's a gift that resonates on a deeper level, creating a connection between their style, their reads, and their everyday life. Books AND MORE

another slogan of the always-quotable Poincaré: “Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.” Lavish, richly colored illustrations immediately drew me into this beautiful book about shapes in the Muslim culture. “ Hexagon is a tile, / bold and bright, / painted with an ayah / I love to recite.” Learn about the geometric figures like circles, squares, and octagons from the daily life and architecture. the hilarious story of how the Electoral College came about as an exhausted compromise rather than the brilliant design we tout it to beJordan Ellenberg] is up to the engaging standard of his prior book . . . almost anyone is likely to enjoy Ellenberg’s prose, and mind.” — Harvard Magazine These board books and picture books about shapes for kids will help your preschool and kindergarten children learn about shapes, including circles, squares, triangles, and other geometric figures. Mathematicians have an imperial tendency - we often see other people's problems as consisting of a true mathematical core surrounded by an irritating amount of domain specific information" p. 126 Here’s something that happens a lot in math. You sit down to solve one problem, and when you finish, the next day or month or year, you realize you’ve sold a lot more problems at the same time. When a nail requires you to invent a truly new kind of hammer, everything looks like a nail worth hitting with that hammer, and lots of things actually are.

These bags aren't just for show - they're designed with you in mind. Whether you're carrying your phone, wallet, cosmetics, or other personal items, the compartments are thoughtfully designed for ease of access and organisation. These bags allow you to flaunt your love for books while serving as a convenient, functional accessory. Practicality meets fashion in this chic homage to literature, offering a unique blend of style and utility for the discerning bibliophile. Quality Craftmanship One of the longest parts, too long for my taste, was about gerrymandering. The key question is can you prove that districts were created specifically to give a certain party the advantage? The simple fact that percent of representatives chosen is not proportional to the number of members of each party is not enough to prove it. For example, Massachusetts has some percentage of Republicans, but no Republican wins seats, and that is not Gerrymandering. People of all parties are randomly spread-out in Massachusetts, so that is just the way things turn out. But Wisconsin is a different story. Anyone who looks hard at that state can see that it was obviously rigged. And the people who rigged it pretty much admit that is what they did. But, still, can you prove it? The convex hull of a shape is the union of every line segment joining every pair of points in the shape: I thoroughly enjoy Ellenberg's style (and his hand-drawn pictures/diagrams to aid with explanations), which is friendly and not overly formal. But he is also careful to state things in a way that aren't so simplified they are no longer true. There's a difficult balance and I think Ellenberg manages it quite well. I learn a lot from seeing his presentation of an issue, even if I was already somewhat familiar with it.Markov chains were discovered because and atheist Markov wanted to disprove the free-will proof that his super religious peer Nekrasov had formulated (the proof hinged on the assumption that to have stable long term probability the agents in the system must be independent) The ultimate reason for teaching kids to write a proof is not that the world is full of proofs. It’s that the world is full of non-proofs, and grown-ups need to know the difference. It’s hard to settle for a non-proof once you’ve really familiarized yourself with the genuine article. Linear algebra allows one to extend one’s intuition about three-dimensional space to spaces of whatever dimension you like;