Measurement [Paperback]

For seven years, Paul LockhartsA Mathematicians Lamentenjoyed a samizdat-style popularity in the mathematics underground, before demand prompted its 2009 publication to even wider applause and debate. An impassioned critique of K12 mathematics education, it outlined how we shortchange students by introducing them to math the wrong way. Here Lockhart offers the positive side of the math education story by showing us how math should be done.Measurementoffers a permanent solution to math phobia by introducing us to mathematics as an artful way of thinking and living.

In conversational prose that conveys his passion for the subject, Lockhart makes mathematics accessible without oversimplifying. He makes no more attempt to hide the challenge of mathematics than he does to shield us from its beautiful intensity. Favoring plain English and pictures over jargon and formulas, he succeeds in making complex ideas about the mathematics of shape and motion intuitive and graspable. His elegant discussion of mathematical reasoning and themes in classical geometry offers proof of his conviction that mathematics illuminates art as much as science.

Lockhart leads us into a universe where beautiful designs and patterns float through our minds and do surprising, miraculous things. As we turn our thoughts to symmetry, circles, cylinders, and cones, we begin to see that almost anyone can do the math in a way that brings emotional and aesthetic rewards.Measurementis an invitation to summon curiosity, courage, and creativity in order to experience firsthand the playful excitement of mathematical work.

The book is a love song and a philosophical manifesto about the pleasures and frustrations, but mainly the pleasures, of doing math.No matter what mathematical education you had, or didn't have, you will be delighted by this enticing book if you take up Paul Lockhart's invitation to engage in the mathematical sensibility that radiates from its pagesl³2