hannahilea's review
4.0
(1) Excellent title, really. But of course one shouldn't judge a book by that (though that is why I picked it up)...
(2) It isn't a story, but a compilation of Brian Hayes's essays. Most of them are fascinating, a couple of them I couldn't focus on.
(3) Mathematical explanations of life and things you otherwise wouldn't connect between the life world and the mathematics world. Fun!
(2) It isn't a story, but a compilation of Brian Hayes's essays. Most of them are fascinating, a couple of them I couldn't focus on.
(3) Mathematical explanations of life and things you otherwise wouldn't connect between the life world and the mathematics world. Fun!
ashwinn's review
3.0
bit-player is a blog authored by Brian Hayes that I read occasionally. That's where I learnt about his latest book Group Theory In The Bedroom, And Other Mathematical Diversions. It's a compilation of 12 long essays he had written for the American Scientist magazine. Written for a general scientifically oriented audience, I found most of the chapters to be fun and interesting. Brian has the gift of making complex ideas easy to understand by using simple analogies. He also researches in-depth into the history behind the science, this is something I sorely miss in most math/science writing. The humans and their stories are just as important as their ideas. This book is an interesting read.
davidr's review against another edition
5.0
This wonderful collection of essays on mathematics is quite entertaining. I especially loved the essays on the Strasbourg Cathedral clock, the Statistics of Deadly Quarrels, and the Naming Names. The author does not simply "do scholarly research" to come up with his essays. For some of his essays, he actually performs a variety of mathematical calculations, computer simulations, and analyses to understand the topics.
mattm's review
4.0
Interesting read about applications of mathematics in everyday life. Some essays were really fascinating (e.g. Strasbourg cathedral's intricate thousand year clock, prime factoring and watchmaker gears), but others were fairly dull (continental divide, mattress flipping). But still informative.
mxduck's review
5.0
Quite possibly one of the most accessible general-population math books I've ever read. Hayes does a great job of writing to a general audience, without dumbing down the quality of his work. I learned a lot, it gave me some ideas, and I would encourage other nerds to read it. :)
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