Math Charmers (Paperback)

Book Summary of MATH CHARMERS (PUL)
This book aims to inspire people by the beauty of mathematics and not necessarily its usefulness, as is most often the case when trying to motivate youngsters to the subject. When one meets people socially and they discover that one's field of interest is mathematics, we are usually confronted with the proud exclamation: "Oh, I was always terrible in math!" For no other subject in the curriculum would an adult be so proud about failure. Having been weak in mathematics is a badge of honour. Why is this so? Are people embarrassed to admit competence in this area? And why are so many people really weak in mathematics? What can be done to change this trend? Were anyone to have the definitive answer to this question, he or she would be the nation's education superstar. We can only conjecture where the problem lies; and then from that perspective, hope to repair it. It is the author's strong belief that the root of the problem lies in the inherent unpopularity of mathematics. But why is it so unpopular? Those who use mathematics are fine with it, but those who do not have a daily need for it can be led to appreciate it for its beauty, and not only for its usefulness. This, then, is the objective of this book; to provide sufficient evidence of the beauty of mathematics through many examples in a variety of its branches. To make these examples attractive and effective, they were selected on the basis of the ease with which they can be understood at first reading.