Mathematics Minus Fear: How to Make Math Fun and Beneficial to Your Everyday Life

By Lawrence Potter

Forget your classroom nightmares and discover how numbers can enhance and illuminate your world!

How can math help you bet on horses or win in Vegas? What’s the foolproof way to solve Sudoku? How can probability teach you to calculate your chances of survival in Russian roulette?
In this irreverent and entertaining guide to mathematics, Lawrence Potter takes the fear out of everything from long division to percentages. Using fascinating puzzles and surprising examples, he shows us how math is connected with the world we encounter every day, from how the VAT works to why weather forecasts are wrong, from winning at Monopoly to improving your mental arithmetic. Along the way you’ll also discover who invented numbers, whether animals can count, and what nuns have to do with multiplication.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Release date: Sep 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781453271445

Lawrence Potter

Lawrence Potter attended Oxford University and graduated with a degree in classics  before becoming an adventurous mathematics teacher in Romania and Rwanda. He is the author of This May Help You Understand the World and lives in London.

Reviews for Mathematics Minus Fear

[michael5rimmer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book when I was about to start an adult-learners' maths course, the idea being to get into a mathematical mindset, to brush up on some basics and to learn a little not-so-basic. Mr Potter's book delivered the goods for me in an easy-going and engaging style.I'd recommend this book for anybody wanting to learn about and have fun with maths.

[psiloiordinary_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

OK its my own fault - should have done more of that judging a book by it cover thing. Well written in a quirky kind of way. This book uses a metaphor of the universal high school maths class complete with smart alec, boy at the back struggling to keep up and socially inadequate teacher to walk us through the typical high school maths syllabus froma round the world.This time around the author stops to explain the why's and wherefores behind each mini topic with historical perspective and chat through exams to help us along.I was expecting more advanced stuff - and should ahve read the back cover or should even have checked the contents page for myself - silly me.If the content described is what you are after then this is a decent book.My rating as always is purely personal.2 out of 5