The Maths That Made Us

The Maths That Made UsBy: Michael Brooks Quadratic equations, Pythagoras theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever explain why? Never fear bestselling science writer, and your new favourite maths teacher, Michael Brooks, is here to help. In The Maths That Made Us, Brooks reminds us of the wonders of numbers: how they enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and astronomers to map the heavens; how they won wars

Quadratic equations, Pythagoras’ theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi — you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever explain why? Never fear — bestselling science writer, and your new favourite maths teacher, Michael Brooks, is here to help.

In The Maths That Made Us, Brooks reminds us of the wonders of numbers: how they enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and astronomers to map the heavens; how they won wars and halted the HIV epidemic; how they are responsible for the design of your home and almost everything in it, down to the smartphone in your pocket. His clear explanations of the maths that built our world, along with stories about where it came from and how it shaped human history, will engage and delight. From ancient Egyptian priests to the Apollo astronauts, and Babylonian tax collectors to juggling robots, join Brooks and his extraordinarily eccentric cast of characters in discovering how maths made us who we are today.

• For readers of Tim Harford, Alex Bellos, Matt Parker, and Jordan Ellenberg, this is a clear and engaging book about how maths shaped our world by a bestselling UK science writer, who will be doing events throughout 2022.
• The hardback (titled The Art of More) received some fantastic reviews and endorsements: ‘Delightful’ Tim Harford, ‘A new way of thinking’ New Statesman, ‘Inspiring’ Jo Marchant, ‘A rich introduction’ Philip Ball.