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How to Bake [Pi]

An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics
Nov 01, 2015Jakedesnake rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
I've had a Goldilocks relationship with math books: some are too hard to follow (Love and Math by Edward Frenkel, for instance), a few are the right level and some are too easy. This book definitively falls into the last category. If you've done your high school maths, you are amply qualified to follow and read the book. Cheng gives a few interesting applications and metaphors that keep you going. Overall, the book is a pretty light read, which is quite a feat considering the subject at large (and no, that's not a bad thing!). I was also disappointed, as someone who had watched all of Cheng's video capsules and as someone who enjoys cooking, to see that the book lacked cooking references. Where were the Mobius strip bagels? The using of actual pies to explain π?