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Measurement

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Measurement by Paul Lockhart invites readers into the world of mathematics as an artful and engaging way of thinking and living. Offering a fresh perspective on math education, Lockhart emphasises the beauty and creativity inherent in mathematical reasoning, especially through classical geometry. The book uses plain English and visualisations to make complex ideas about shapes and motion intuitive and accessible, aiming to dispel math phobia and reveal the emotional and aesthetic rewards of exploring symmetry, circles, cylinders, and cones.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in mathematics, art, and science, especially those curious about the deeper beauty of math beyond formulas. Suitable for educators and lifelong learners seeking a fresh, thoughtful approach to understanding mathematical concepts without jargon.

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Lockhart’s Mathematician’s Lament outlined how we introduce math to students in the wrong way. Measurement explains how math should be done. With plain English and pictures, he makes complex ideas about shape and motion intuitive and graspable, and offers a solution to math phobia by introducing us to math as an artful way of thinking and living.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

For seven years, Paul Lockhart's A Mathematician's Lament enjoyed a samizdat-style popularity in the mathematics underground, before demand prompted its 2009 publication to even wider applause and debate. An impassioned critique of K–12 mathematics education, it outlined how we shortchange students by introducing them to math the wrong way. Here, Lockhart offers the positive side of the math education story by showing us how math should be done. Measurement offers a permanent solution to math phobia by introducing us to mathematics as an artful way of thinking and living.

In conversational prose that conveys his passion for the subject, Lockhart makes mathematics accessible without oversimplifying. He makes no more attempt to hide the challenge of mathematics than he does to shield us from its beautiful intensity. Favoring plain English and pictures over jargon and formulas, he succeeds in making complex ideas about the mathematics of shape and motion intuitive and graspable. His elegant discussion of mathematical reasoning and themes in classical geometry offers proof of his conviction that mathematics illuminates art as much as science.

Lockhart leads us into a universe where beautiful designs and patterns float through our minds and do surprising, miraculous things. As we turn our thoughts to symmetry, circles, cylinders, and cones, we begin to see that almost anyone can do the math in a way that brings emotional and aesthetic rewards. Measurement is an invitation to summon curiosity, courage, and creativity in order to experience firsthand the playful excitement of mathematical work.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674284388

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 12 May 2014

Country: United States

Imprint: The Belknap Press

Illustration: 416 line illustrations

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 463g

Pages: 416

About the Author

Paul Lockhart is the author of Arithmetic, Measurement, and A Mathematician’s Lament. After a career as a research mathematician at Brown University and the University of California, Santa Cruz, he spent two decades teaching algebra at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn.

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