Review

The premise of Plus and Minuses is sound, but the author misses the chance to highlight the beauty of mathematics

By Frank O'Shea
July 11 2020 - 12:00am
  • Pluses and Minuses: How Maths Solves Our Problems, by Stefan Buijsman. Text. $16.99.

Many people would dismiss any suggestion that they use mathematics in their daily lives. They would be happy to tell you of the pranks they pulled on their poor maths teachers and assure you that half a lifetime later, they have never had a need for quadratic equations. Yet we are told by economists and politicians, educationalists and journalists that mathematics is one of the most important subjects taught in schools. The focus of this book is to justify that opinion of mathematics by explaining some of the ways it is used.

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