Sunday, January 11, 2015

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension is, in fact, a book about math. If this makes you flee in terror, then you should probably wait until you're older to read it. Of course, that is true of any book, because it is very difficult to read while fleeing in terror.

This is a very good book, and I think it's very well made. It is written in a way so that you start with easy stuff, and work your way up the ladder of chapters. The first chapter is about counting. Seriously.

Throughout the book, the concepts get more complex, and they all build on each other. The "Tower of chapters" (as in, the way they build on each other) is laid out during the introduction. At the end, Matt talks about infinity, and then steps back to look at all of mathematics, and the reason we do math.

One thing that surprised me when reading the book was how much there was to... well... make and do. Throughout the book, there are little activities that you can try. I do recommend that you actually attempt to do them, because they are all really interesting. For example, as I type, I have interlocking möbius strip hearts on my desk.

This is a great book for you if you like math, arts and crafts, or both. If you consider yourself a math nerd, this is basically a must-have. And, if you don't like math, then I still think you should read it. It turns out that math is, in fact, very interesting. Those "mathematicians" are on to something.

Also, he does say "Maths" instead of "Math". Get used to it.

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