From: Marielouise (for Teacher2Teacher Service)
Date: Oct 15, 1998 at 19:04:13
Subject: Re: Integrating literature into math

These are some of my favorites.  Look in the public library, Barnes & Noble,
Borders, college math libraries.

Alice in Wonderland is a marvelous book.  It shows many of the concepts of
geometry such as similarity and dilation.  When read for its mathematics, it
is on a higher level than when read as a story.

There is another book that is much "thinner" in size.  It is "Flatland" by
Abbott.  It shows the world viewed from only two dimensions.  This book can
also be viewed as an essay on social issues with a hierarchy of positions
within the society.

An adult book is "Chaos" by James Gleick.  This has been on the best seller
list and should be found in bookstores and public libraries.

"Journey through Genius" is a collection of essays on the great theorems of
mathematics.  Its author is William Dunham ISBN number 0-471-50030-5 John
Wiley & Sons.c. 1990

"The Great Mathematicians" by Herbert Westren Turnbull is published by Barnes
& Noble Books, 1993.  ISBN 1-56619-157-2.

"On Growth and Form" by D'Arcy Thompson has recently been republished by
Cambridge University Press.  It was first published in 1917.  For those
people interested in biology, it has good mathematics related to it. Look for
it at Barnes & Noble.

"Was Pythagoras Chinese?"  by Frank J. Swetz and T. I. Kao is from the Penn
State University Press but most recently published by the National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics  1977.   This is a small book related to the
Pythagorean Theorem.  ISBN 0-271-01238-2

"Mind Tools" by Rudy Rucker Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-46810-8, 1987 is
about mathematical reality.  It is a difficult book to read in full but is
interesting in bits and pieces.

"Patterns in Nature" by Peter Stevens, Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN 0-316-
81328-1.  Published in 1974

"The Divine Proportion: A Study in mathematical Beauty" by  H.E. Huntley.
Published by Dover Publications 1970.  ISBN 0-486-22254-3. Of all of the
books listed, this is my favorite.


 -Marielouise, for the Teacher2Teacher service

Post a public discussion message
Ask Teacher2Teacher a new question