Rating: 5/5
Review
Brilliant
I thought Humble Pi was simply brilliant. It is fascinating and very
funny in places.
Matt Parker is both
a mathematician and a comedian, both of which show strongly here. He
gives us a book crammed with extremely interesting examples of the
importance of maths in our world and of what can go wrong when the
maths isn’t done right. These extend from bridge disasters and
medical tragedies to glitches in computer games, financial fiddles
and so on.
It sounds like the
sort of book where I’d normally expect to read a couple of
chapters, take a break and come back to it, but it is so interesting
and so entertaining that I read the whole thing from start to finish
with great pleasure. Parker writes with flair and real wit, with the
odd laugh-out-loud one-liner, too. I found it an absolute joy and
even if you’re not very interested in maths, I can recommend this
very warmly indeed.
(My thanks to
Penguin Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)
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