spoonerreads's review against another edition
4.0
The math was beyond me even though I teach intro calculus.
The message of friendship, caring, and looking beyond yourself is life changing.
The message of friendship, caring, and looking beyond yourself is life changing.
knitter22's review
5.0
I'm familiar with Steven Strogatz from being an avid Radiolab listener, so I have anxiously awaited The Calculus of Friendship. It's a beautiful, poignant story of the intense, special, and evolving relationship between student & teacher. It is also an amazing writing accomplishment that successfully combines math and memoir. While I can't say that I completely understand all the math, the mathematics only adds to this story rather than detracting from it. It shows the true elegance & beauty of calculus, along with the elegance & beauty of working together as student and teacher to solve the calculus. Mr. Joffray is truly an extraordinary teacher, one that allows his students to teach him. I honestly wish that I could learn math from both of these men, and they are portrayed so well through their letters that I would also like to share an interesting dinner & discussion with them. Maybe they could (attempt to) further explain "differentiating under the integral sign" to me! I'm going to insist that my son read this book as he has already had some exemplary math (and chemistry!) teachers that have greatly influenced his life, and is embarking on his college career where I fervently hope he meets more of the same.
corydoesmath's review
3.0
It's a short and wholesome book, but it could have been just as effective as a 5-10 YouTube video. It's about Steven's letters to his former math teacher, Mr. Joffray. They exchange math problems and short blips of news, usually preferring math over more devastating news (death of a family member or divorce). Corresponding about math helped them through the hard bits of life, but Steven wanted to know more about Joffray as a person. I'm afraid that the math was a little too prevailing and a whole picture wasn't quite drawn out.
The math in this book is written at a pretty high level. I have a degree in math and I couldn't follow it... I would have to sit down with a pen and paper and check each step line-by-line (in a few cases, I did). So in a way, I didn't really read the book. I skipped the math. But I have faith that if I really wanted to know a problem, I could sit down and follow the proof. I sadly didn't have the interest to do that this time around. I'm not sure if the math is there so people can follow it or so that there's a reference. I do enjoy all of the life philosophies connected to mathematical concepts. Every chapter has a theme that connects to where Steven and Mr. Joffray were in life and the math.
Writing "pop math" is extremely hard and Steven Strogatz is considered one of the best. Reading pop math books in high school was the reason I learned to love math, so I'm indebted to them. But... there are very few good pop math books. Most of them contain the same 14 or so math concepts. (Once, I tried to write an essay about why pop math books are usually bad, so I've thought about this a lot.) This book is unique in that the math is at a much higher level, mostly calculus, and has a greater theme about correspondence between a student and a teacher. I think the idea for the book was fantastic, but it wasn't executed as well as I had hoped. I think what pushes this into three-star territory over two-star territory is how short it is and how easy it would be to pull out a chapter and think about a problem later on. It's now a good resource and place of inspiration.
So, as the summer comes to a close, let's hope I can keep up reading throughout the school year. And also, please help me find a good pop math book.
The math in this book is written at a pretty high level. I have a degree in math and I couldn't follow it... I would have to sit down with a pen and paper and check each step line-by-line (in a few cases, I did). So in a way, I didn't really read the book. I skipped the math. But I have faith that if I really wanted to know a problem, I could sit down and follow the proof. I sadly didn't have the interest to do that this time around. I'm not sure if the math is there so people can follow it or so that there's a reference. I do enjoy all of the life philosophies connected to mathematical concepts. Every chapter has a theme that connects to where Steven and Mr. Joffray were in life and the math.
Writing "pop math" is extremely hard and Steven Strogatz is considered one of the best. Reading pop math books in high school was the reason I learned to love math, so I'm indebted to them. But... there are very few good pop math books. Most of them contain the same 14 or so math concepts. (Once, I tried to write an essay about why pop math books are usually bad, so I've thought about this a lot.) This book is unique in that the math is at a much higher level, mostly calculus, and has a greater theme about correspondence between a student and a teacher. I think the idea for the book was fantastic, but it wasn't executed as well as I had hoped. I think what pushes this into three-star territory over two-star territory is how short it is and how easy it would be to pull out a chapter and think about a problem later on. It's now a good resource and place of inspiration.
So, as the summer comes to a close, let's hope I can keep up reading throughout the school year. And also, please help me find a good pop math book.
tsuki__reads's review
5.0
This is how a teacher should be, not just able to give students facts but who is also able to inspire and let students learn outside the classroom. Their correspondence was both intellectual and personal, a rare kind of friendship born from a teacher-student relationship.
tsukireads's review
5.0
This is how a teacher should be, not just able to give students facts but who is also able to inspire and let students learn outside the classroom. Their correspondence was both intellectual and personal, a rare kind of friendship born from a teacher-student relationship.
ravinarayanan's review
3.0
I skipped the mathematics in this work. The teacher becomes student and the student becomes teacher. I wish I had this type of friendship.
satyridae's review
1.0
The math was far, far over my head, but that hardly ever detracts from my enjoyment of a book. However this book, which appeared from the blurbs to be a collection of letters, was actually more of a collection of math problems. The author was pretty honest about what a clueless jerk he was for much of the time period the book covers, but his honesty didn't make me like him any better. I wonder if there's a lot left out of this book, or if he really is a guy so mathy that he doesn't see anything but numbers.
In summation, I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. The writing wasn't bad, mind you- just so emotionless and flat that I couldn't connect with the non-math parts, and the math parts were so unintelligible (to me, I know, I know the rest of you got 'em) that I was overwhelmed with ennui.
In summation, I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. The writing wasn't bad, mind you- just so emotionless and flat that I couldn't connect with the non-math parts, and the math parts were so unintelligible (to me, I know, I know the rest of you got 'em) that I was overwhelmed with ennui.
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