Find out more by buying this book! Although I earned a mere M.B.A., I learned things that were never taught before. AND to boot, my girls ENJOYED this text and are still enjoying! (ages 11 to 15). It is a type of book that you want to keep around and review throughout your math "career", in other words, your life. You can read this book through, but will probably learn something a bit new when you re-read it from time to time. We purchased the e-book. A lot of printing, but very well worth it! Enough said. : )

Blessings,

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes, ABSOLUTELY!

Mathematics. Who ever knew they could be so fascinating? This book was written not only with mathematics in view, but history. History is one subject that has always fascinated me, and John Tiner Hudson actually managed to rope me into enjoying a text of mathematical equations by how he presented the material!

Some of the topics I especially enjoyed were:

The history of the calendar and seasons. Here, the author explores the mathematics behind our calendar. Almost everyone knows about the Gregorian and the Julian calendar, but did you know that the math that is required to set us on the right track with our current calendar is still just a little bit off? I didn't, but in a couple hundred years we will have to adjust it or our days won't line up!

The largeness of numbers. Kids (and adults!) are always fascinated by this one. Wondering what the largest number is? It's a googolplexian! It is the number one followed by a googolplex of zeros. Of course, also included in the section is who and how this name came to be!

Great historical math geniuses, including Archimedes, Galileo, Kepler, Newton etc., are covered in detail and many of the problems that they solved or attempted to solve were included. Throughout the book, puzzles such as magic cubes and the seven Königsberg bridges are detailed out and students will very much enjoy looking through the formulas and attempting to solve these famous puzzles themselves.

John Tiner Hudson has created a fantastic resource for parents. This is THE perfect supplemental material. He has managed to create a fantastic read that is easy enough for a fifth grader to understand, but with enough data for a middle or high school student to benefit from. The author has further aided the usability of the book by including text problems at the end of the chapter as well as working through problems "real time" right in the text for the student. I would say most of the actual problems would be intended for a the higher end of student, but a fifth or sixth grader could probably manage with some help. A younger student could certainly read the text and treat the questions as optional. The chapters are short, but detailed, the problems and data is presented in an interesting way. In short, I highly recommend this book.

*Thanks to Master Books for providing a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book gives a history of the development of mathematics with some instruction on how to do the various types of math worked in. The text was engaging and easy to understand. Much of the book was suitable for middle schoolers, though some chapters were more high school level. There were useful black and white charts and illustrations. At the end of each chapter, there were 10 questions--most tested if you learned the important points in the chapter, but some were math problems based on what was learned. The answers were in the back.

The book occasionally referred to things in the Bible, like explaining the cubit as an ancient measurement of length. The author had math start with the ancient Egyptians (since, according to him, it wasn't needed before then because people were roaming herders).

Chapter 1 talked about ancient calendars and how the modern calendar was developed. Chapter 2 talked about marking the passage of time. Chapter 3 talked about the development of weights and measures from ancient ones to modern non-metric systems. Chapter 4 talked about the development of the metric system.

Chapter 5 talked about how ancient Egyptians used basic geometry. Chapter 6 talked about how ancient Greeks continued to develop mathematics. Chapter 7 talked about the different systems and symbols for numbers. Chapter 8 talked about number patterns. Chapter 9 talked about mathematical proofs, decimal points, fractions, negative numbers, irrational numbers, and never-ending numbers.

Chapter 10 talked about algebra and analytical geometry. Chapter 11 talked about network design, combinations & permutations, factorials, Pascal's triangle, and probability. Chapter 12 talked about the development of counting machines, from early mechanical calculators to modern digital calculators. Chapter 13 talked about the development of modern computers. Chapter 14 gave some math tricks and puzzles.

Because I was taking College Algebra last semester, I picked up the book, Exploring the World of Mathematics, to read in order to supplement my understanding of math. Great choice! Not only did I learn more about mathematic principles but I learned more about the history of math, how math applies to everyday life, and even how math is used in scriptures!I suggest that sometime during your child's 5th-8th grade years, you go through each chapter with him - maybe as a summer course or one day a week on Friday. Most kids will like the book, too, as it teaches them how to solve logic problems that can fool their friends! Like this one: Have your friend secretly choose a number from one to ten. Tell him to add six to the number, double the results, and divide his answer by four. Next subtract half of the original number. When he is done, you can tell him what his number is 100% of the time. You'll have to read the book to find out how!