Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities: A Book Review

Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities of Ian Stewart is a different approach of a mathematics book. It is not the typical math book you get in school or a math book for a reference for a research paper. It is a book full of games, trivia, puzzles, stories, etc. This compilation is not just for fun but at the same time you can learn from the challenges because it provides the answers at the end of the book. The games, puzzles, stories, trivia, etc. are mind boggling and would really make you sit on a chair and spend your time solving each problem. After solving one problem, it seems like an addiction that you can’t stop answering the next problem to the next problem and so forth. These games, puzzles, trivia, stories can be used not just for mathematicians but also as simple as family bonding or as a strategy to make new friends, though the problems range from easy to difficult. Also for those not really that good in math, reading the answer sheets gives you knowledge about the problem; a start of learning mathematics.

Personally, as I went to the table of contents to see how many chapters composed this book, I was shocked to see many titles. Then I went to the first portion, “Alien encounter”. I read it many times because what was instilled in my mind that this was a “textbook” type of a book, and then I realized it was not. It was telling somewhat a riddle. Because I was tired of analysing, so I jumped to what the book said “answer on page 252”. Then re-read the problem again and understood the process. Then I tried different problems. “This is interesting and I learn a lot”, I thought. But other problems, my limited mind cannot comprehend. Also, visuals helped a lot in this book. In general, I like this book because math was presented in a different way- in a more fun way!