A tenth anniversary edition of the iconic book about the wonderful world of maths
Sunday Times bestseller | Shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize
The world of maths can seem mind-boggling, irrelevant and, let's face it, boring. This groundbreaking book reclaims maths from the geeks. Mathematical ideas underpin just about everything in our lives: from the surprising geometry of the 50p piece to how probability can help you win in any casino. In search of weird and wonderful mathematical phenomena, Alex Bellos travels across the globe and meets the world's fastest mental calculators in Germany and a startlingly numerate chimpanzee in Japan. Packed with fascinating, eye-opening anecdotes, Alex's Adventures in Numberland is an exhilarating cocktail of history, reportage and mathematical proofs that will leave you awestruck.
This anniversary edition is fully revised and updated.
Review
Original and highly entertaining ― Sunday Times
Will leave you hooked on numbers ― Daily Telegraph
A page turner about humanity's strange, never easy and, above all, never dull relationship with numbers ― New Scientist
Outstanding ... The style is laced with humour, but at all times, the star of the show is mathematics ― Ian Stewart, Prospect
If there was one book that was going to be compulsory for the nation to read it would be this one -- Evan Davies
A magical mystery tour . . . Philosophy, religion, magic, history and basic sheep-counting are gather together in Bellos's bag of numbers ― The Times
Revealing and insightful ― Independent
A wholly original, beautifully written book about mathematics that does its subject justice but is so widely accessible that it will please everyone regardless of their numeracy ― New Scientist
An entertaining and accessible account of how maths underpins our lives. Maths will never appear so forbidding again ― TES
It is to be hoped that the uncountable delights of Bellos's book, its verve and feeling for mathematics, convey its enchantments to a new generation ― Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Alex Bellos writes about maths and football. He has a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford, and is a former South America correspondent for the Guardian. His books include the bestselling Alex's Adventures in Numberland and its sequel Alex Through the Looking Glass, Visions of Numberland, Can You Solve My Problems? and So You Think You've Got Problems? as well as the Football School series of children's books, which he co-authors. He has been the puzzle columnist for the Guardian since 2015. Alex lives in London with his wife and two sons.