Book Response: The Joy of X Although I didnt dig as deeply into The Joy of X as I did my first book, The

Math Book, I still benefited from and enjoyed exploring it. To respond to it, Ill share some of my opinions on the book, interesting facts that I discovered within it, and compare it to The (Lovely) Math Book. The way that Steven Strogatz presents The Joy of X is perfect. Similar to Pickovers approach in The Math Book, Strogatz introduces complex ideas in very informal ways. He communicates information through anecdotes, humor, real-world references, and illustrations. I tend to get bored while reading (any material, really), but these features as well as the brevity of his chapters kept me interested and curious. Strogatzs personality and intellect were made obvious through his writing. While reading the book, I came across and took note of facts that fascinated me. Some of my favorites include: The word decimal actually means base ten. A high school student was the one to derive a formula for the paper-folding conundrum (How many times can you fold a piece of paper in half?). Ezra Cornell, who invented the telegraph machine, worked for Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse code. Symbols that are meaningful to what they represent: 0 -> an empty hole/nothing I (one) -> a single mark -> a neverending mark -> an elongated S standing for summation

While reading The Joy of X, I often found myself thinking, Huh, I never thought of it that way! The problems discussed and explained in the book appear to be simple at first but are soon revealed as more thought-provoking. After reading Strogatzs description of a puzzle, I would typically open up my notebook and start to draw out the problem and solve it in my own way, then use his steps. There were many interesting learning experiences had. One problem that he posed involved filling a bathtub with water. He identifies it as the first word problem he was ever given. The problem was, If the cold-water faucet can fill the tub in a half hour, and the hotwater faucet can fill it in an hour, how long will it take to fill the tub when theyre running

together? Like Strogatz acknowledges, I am one of many that immediately thought of the solution being 45 minutes, the halfway point between the two tubs filling rates. Of course, this answer doesnt make sense, and the chapter goes on to discuss the problem more deeply. There are multiple correct ways to solve the problem explored throughout the rest of the chapter, which of course made me reply, Oh, duh! In addition to breaking down word problems, Strogatz also takes on the brave role of teaching (or re-teaching) some sticky, infamous math topics. These include logarithms, sine waves, derivatives, and the algorithm behind Googles success. Like my experience with The Math Book, I found that some of these concepts, no matter how strenuously explained, went right over my head. But they definitely interested me and led me to reread and even do my own research to help make sense of it all. All in all, The Joy of X was a solid read. As I explored it, I could picture the mathematical wizard that is Steven Strogatz saying it word for word in a casual chat over coffee. The book used a friendly, welcoming language that would even draw in those that dont love math. I laughed out loud at some of his side notes and puns and also recognized some eye-opening mathematical connections that I had never made before. To further compare The Joy of X with The Math Book, here is a competition in chart form: Category Number of topics explored Detail of topics explored Presentation of book Comic relief The Joy of X The Math Book

TIE

Book flow

Reasoning 250 events outlining maths entire history is hard to top Uses more than a page and more than one approach to communicate key ideas Very untraditional for a math text, composed of several illustrations and brief highlights from history Includes quality jokes and cleverly titled chapters that make the reader realize Strogatz can not only play the role of the math nerd, but also the witty friend. Both books had pretty choppy progressions. In The Math Book, each page dealt with a completely different concept/event that did not rely on the page before or after it. You could read the page and gain understanding without looking at any other part of the book. The Joy of X was similar. Each chapter discussed different ideas and did not follow a sequential order with the others. Note: Im not saying that this is a negative

feature. The frequent changes in topic kept me engaged and wanting more! So I suppose the books are ranked equally. They follow the same informal, curiositybuilding format that keeps the reader on their toes and incorporate fun facts and humorous tidbits while aiming towards different goals. The Math Book outlines the history of mathematics in brief summaries, while The Joy of X pulls out specific math concepts (not following a timeline) and shows the reader new ways to investigate them. I would recommend both of these books to essentially anyone who was willing to give them a try!