Tag Archives: humor

Mathematical Fiction Is Not Optional

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“The Parrot’s Theorem” (translated from “Le Théorème du Perroquet”) was an instant bestseller in France when it was published in 1998.

Sylvia Nasar’s A Beautiful Mind and G. H. Hardy’s A Mathematician Apology are two nonfiction mathematical classics for both mathematicians and mathematics educators. Lesser known are the mathematical novels which often feature characters whose speciality is number theory, also known as higher arithmetic, and elevated as math’s purest abstract branch.

Mathematics à la Tom Clancy

Two novels that revolve around famous unsolved problems in mathematics are Philibert Schogt’s The Wild Numbers and Apostolis Doxiadis’s Uncle Petros & Goldbach’s Conjecture.

If you’re looking for math, women, sex, and back-stabbing, The Wild Numbers is a math melodrama unlikely to disappoint.

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Winner of the New South Wales Premier’s Prize

 

Fictional math

Who are these mathematical fiction books targeted? Math and science teachers? Educated laypersons? Pure mathematicians may like to read them, yet at the same time they may complain that the mathematics discussed in these books is anything but rigorous.

These books seldom fail to convey the following subtle messages:

• The thin line between mathematical genius and madness.

• The search for mathematical truth at all costs, and the heavy price of finding it.

• The arrogance and pride of pure mathematicians who look down on their peers, most of whom work as applied mathematicians and research scientists.

• The relatively high divorce rate among first-rate mathematicians as compared to their peers in other disciplines.

• Mathematics is apparently a young’s man game; one has past one’s prime if one hasn’t written one’s best paper by the age of 40.

• Mathematicians are from Mars; math educators are from Venus.

• Pure mathematicians (or number theorists) are first-rate mathematicians; applied mathematicians are second- or third-rate mathematicians. To the left of the “mathematical intelligence” bell curve are math educators from schools of education, and high-school math teachers.

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“Reality Conditions” is collection of 16 short stories, which is ideal for leisure reading—it’s suitable for promoting quantitative literacy, or it’d serve as the basis for a creative course on “Mathematics in Fiction.”

The joy of reading mathematics

Let’s rekindle the joy of appreciating mathematics for mathematics’s sake. Let’s welcome poetry, design thinking, and creativity, whatever ingredient that may help to draw the community into recognizing and appreciating the language of science and of technology. These “pure-math-for-poets” titles have a place in our mathematics curriculum, as they could help promote the humanistic element of mathematics.

Here are ten titles you may wish to introduce to your students, as part of a mathematics appreciation or enrichment course.

The New York Times Book of Mathematics

The Best Writing on Mathematics 2010 

Clifton Fadiman’s Fantasia Mathematica

Clifton Fadiman’s The Mathematical Magpie

Don DeLillo’s Ratner’s Star

Edwin A. Abbott’s Flatland

Hiroshi Yuki’s Math Girls

John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines

Philip J. Davis’s The Thread: A Mathematical Yarn

Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow

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Juvenile fiction—A child prodigy and his friend tried to create a mathematical formula to explain his love relationships.

References

Green, J. (2006). An abundance of Katherines. New York: Dutton Books.

Guedj, D. (2000). The parrot’s theorem. London: Orion Books Ltd.

Kolata, G. & Hoffman, P. (eds.) (2013). The New York Times book of mathematics: More than 100 years of writing by the numbers. New York: Sterling.

Hiroshi, Y. (2011). Math girls. Austin, Texas: Bento Books.

Pitici, M. (ed.) (2011). The best writing on mathematics 2010. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Wallace, D. F. (2012). Both flesh and not: Essays. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Woolfe, S. (1996). Leaning towards infinity: A novel. NSW, Australia: Random House Australia Pty Ltd.

© Yan Kow Cheong, September 12, 2013.

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Murderous math that doesn’t kill!

Hungry ghosts don’t do Singapore math

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In Singapore, every year around this time, folks who believe in hungry ghosts celebrate the one-month-long “Hungry Ghost Festival” (also known as the “Seventh Month”). The Seventh Month is like an Asian equivalent of Halloween, extended to one month—just spookier.

If you think that these spiritual vagabonds encircling the island are mere fictions or imaginations of some superstitious or irrational local folks who have put their blind faith in them, you’re in for a shock. These evil spirits can drive the hell out of ghosts agnostics, including those who deny the existence of such spiritual beings.

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Hell money superstitious [or innumerate] folks can buy for a few bucks to pacify the “hungry ghosts.”

During the fearful Seventh Month, devotees would put on hold major life decisions, be it about getting married, purchasing a house, or signing a business deal. If you belong to the rational type, there’s no better time in Singapore to tie the knot (albeit there’s no guarantee that all your guests would show up on your D-Day); in fact, you can get the best deal of the year if your wedding day also happens to fall on a Friday 13—an “unlucky date” in an “unlucky month.”

Problem solving in the Seventh Month

I have no statistical data of the number of math teachers, who are hardcore Seventh Month disciples, who would play it safe, by going on some “mathematical fast” or diet during this fearful “inaupicious month.” As for the rest of us, let’s not allow fear, irrationality, or superstition to paralyze us from indulging into some creative mathematical problem solving.

Let’s see how the following “ghost” word problem may be solved using the Stack Method, a commonly used problem-solving strategy, slowing gaining popularity among math educators outside Singapore (which has often proved to be as good as, if not better than, the bar method in a number of problem-situations).

During the annual one-month-long Hungry Ghost Festival, a devotee used 1/4 and $45 of the amount in his PayHell account to buy an e-book entitled That Place Called Hades. He then donated 1/3 and $3 of the remaining amount to an on-line mortuary, whose members help to intercede for long-lost wicked souls. In the end, his PayHell account showed that he only had $55 left. How much money did he have at first?

Try solving this, using the Singapore model, or bar, method, before peeking at the quick-and-dirty stack-method solutions below.

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From the stack drawing,
2 units = 55 + 13 + 15 + 15 = 98
4 units = 2 × 98 = 196

He had $196 in his PayHell account at first.

Alternatively, we may represent the stack drawing as follows:

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From the model drawing,
2 units = 15 + 15 + 13 + 55 = 98
4 units = 2 × 98 = 196

The devotee had $196 in his account at first.

Another way of solving the “ghost question” is depicted below.

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From the stack drawing,
6u = 55 + 13 + 15 + 15 = 98
12u = 2 × 98 = 196

He had $196 in his PayHell account at first.

A prayerful exercise for the lost souls

Let me end with a “wicked problem” I initially included in Aha! Math, a recreational math title I wrote for elementary math students. My challenge to you is to solve this rate question, using the Singapore bar method; better still, what about using the stack method? Happy problem solving!

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How would you use the model, or bar, method to solve this “wicked problem”?
Reference
Yan, K. C. (2006). Aha! math! Singapore: SNP Panpac Education. 
© Yan Kow Cheong, August 28, 2013.

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A businessman won this “lucky” urn with a $488,888 bid at a recent Hungry Ghost Festival auction.

Can Math Be Sexy?

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One thing is almost certain is that if Danica McKellar, actress and mathematician-turned-math-author, were to write a book on Singapore math, my bet is that it would unlikely be approved by the Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE), although few would deny that her title would probably be a terrific draw among local students, even in conservative or puritan Singapore—it may even end up being the first math book on a Singapore bestseller’s list.

Going by her math titles (Kiss my math; Math doesn’t sulk; and Hot algebra exposed!), which are primarily targeted at an American or liberal audience, should the TV personality be tempted to write a math book for a local audience, it would be a miracle if her manuscript got pass the first round of Singapore’s MOE’s censorship board—not before making most MOE curriculum specialists flush of embarrassment.

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Would you buy this math title for your son or daughter?

Infidel Math

Indeed, the Taliban and the Ayatollahs wouldn’t approve Danica McKellar’s irreverent titles, not to say, her irreligious style of writing, but what about “moderate” nations like Singapore, which unspokenly or secretly longs to be portrayed as a conservative society with “high moral standards”? McKellar’s math books are anything but boring! In fact, she thinks that math can be easy, relevant, and even glamorous. By adding a little glamour and humor to the teaching of mathematics, it looks like the math advocate has, to a large extent, demonstrated that math can actually be accessible to young girls—and young boys, too!

 

A Math Role Model for Girls (and Boys)

In math education circles, it’s not surprising that Danica McKellar is regarded by many [open-minded] parents and math educators as a terrific role model [for girls and young women]. She teaches the value of confidence that comes from feeling [math-]smart. Her supporters think that her books should be required reading for every math-anxious school girl! The message seems to be that physical beauty and quantitative literacy need’t be mutually exclusive.

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Would you give away this irreverent guide about pre-algebra to your neighbor’s son?

From Boyfriend to Babysitting

A random look at some chapters of Math Doesn’t Sulk needs no explanation why teenage girls wouldn’t want to give math a serious try, or a second chance, especially if they want to appear smart and beautiful, to their boyfriends. Would you put down a math title with these chapter headings?

 

Chapter 1: How to Make a Killing on eBay (Prime Numbers and Prime Factorization)

Chapter 2: Do You Still Have a Crush on Him? (Finding the Greatest Common Factor)

Chapter 7: Is Your Sister Trying to Cheat You Out of Your Fair Share? (Comparing Fractions)

Chapter 11: Why Calculators Would Make Terrible Boyfriends (Converting Fractions and Mixed Numbers to Decimals)

Chapter 12: How to Entertain Yourself while Babysitting a Devil Child (Converting Decimals to Fractions) 

Math Doesn’t Sulk also comes with a math horoscope, math personality quizzes, and real-life testimonials. What else more can one expect from a math book? In fact, Danica herself exemplifies her own life from being a terrified middle-school math student to a confident actress, and more.

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X-rated algebra with a dose of irreverence and humor

Girls get curves: Geometry takes shape

I’m currently looking at a copy of McKellar’s latest publication, Girls get curves; personally, I think it’s the most useful of all her publications so far, as it covers a number of middle- and high-school topics, such as congruency, similarity, and proofs, which are relevant to my teaching and writing. My wild guess is that her next title would be one on Calculus and Trigonometry!
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Learn some proofs with Danica as your personal tutor and coach!

Don’t judge a book by its irreverent title!

Suspend your judgement for a while, even if McKellar’s irreverent titles make you feel a bit squeamish or uneasy. Who knows? You may end up learning a thing or two about some long-forgotten, or decades-old avoided, math.

 

Personally, the style of writing of these pop math books is enough to arouse my interest, leave aside the math, which somewhat lacks rigor, as compared to the standard expected of Singapore math students at the same grades. For example, in Singapore,  geometric proof and trigonometry are formally covered at grade 9 or 10. However, McKellar’s  informal and conversational writing style could help us loosen our often-stiff mathematics writing, which has traditionally plagued most Singapore-published boring textbooks, as they go through the “rigorous” (or tedious?) process of MOE’s standards of quality and morality.

References

Ho, S. T., Khor, N. H. & Yan, K. C. (2013). Additional Maths 360. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Education.

McKellar, D. (2012). Girls get curves: Geometry takes shape. New York: Hudson Street Press.

McKellar, D. (2011). Hot X: Algebra exposed! New York: Plume.

McKellar, D. (2008). Kiss my math: Showing pre-algebra who’s boss. New York: Hudson Street Press.

McKelkar, D. (2007). Math doesn’t suck: How to survive middle school math without losing your mind or breaking a nail. New York: Plume.

For alignment with state and NCTM math standards, visit www.mathdoesntsuck.com/standards

© Yan Kow Cheong, April 20, 2013.