The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places

The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places

When the schools in Jeremy’s town ban math, there are loud cheers from the kids. Even his teachers happily toss their textbooks. But Jeremy’s best friend Sam, a self-proclaimed mathnik, sets out to prove that math is not only important, but fun. In the chapters that follow, Sam reveals math’s presence in everyday places, including sports (types of triangles determine how a bike functions), art (artist M.C. Escher combined math patterns with imagination), even in nature (ants instinctively calculate dead reckoning—a navigation tool also used by astronauts). Meanwhile, surprising sidebars offer Jeremy’s thoughts on weird concepts from chaos theory to cash prizes for new prime numbers. In the end, Jeremy, his teachers, and even the Director of Education have to admit that school minus math equals all sorts of trouble. Complete with dozens of amusing real-life math examples, brief bios of seven famous mathematicians, and fun illustrations and diagrams, this innovative introduction to all things arithmetic will win over even the most math-phobic readers. Grade 4–6—When Jeremy and Sam's school district decides to eliminate mathematics from the curriculum, most of the students and teachers are thrilled. However, Sam is devastated and takes on the Director of Education. The debate highlights Sam's knowledge of the use of mathematics in the design of buildings and bicycles, in tessellations and other art forms, in animation, in music, in patterns in nature (Fibonacci numbers), magic, etc. Interspersed with the story line are one-page biographies of Pythagoras, Archimedes, Hypatia of Alexandria, Sophie Germain, Charles Ludwig Dodgson, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Andrew Wiles. Sidebars with Jeremy's thoughts on chaos theory, cash prizes for new prime numbers, laws of probability, and palindrome numbers add to the information. Full-color cartoons, diagrams, and photos appear throughout. Classroom teachers could use this book to introduce new concepts and relate them to everyday objects to help students understand their significance. It would supplement math sections in school and public libraries.— Ann Joslin, Fort LeBoef School District, Waterford, PA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Classroom teachers could use this book to introduce new concepts and relate them to everyday objects to help students understand their significance. ( School Library Journal ) Cora Lee is scientist and freelance writer whose work includes scientific articles for kids. This is her first book. She lives in Vancouver, B.C. Gillian O'Reilly is a children's author and the editor of a children's literature magazine. She lives in Toronto. Virigina Gray is the illustrator of several books for children. She lives in Katoomba, Australia. Chapter 1 [Note: see end of excerpt for Sidebars interspersed throughout the chapter.] My friend Sam, he's crazy about math. Me (the name's Jeremy), I can do without it. Math has nothing to do with me, and I have nothing to do with it -- except when it comes to homework, and then I'm the kind of guy who needs a calculator desperately. At least, that's what I thought until last fall, when we had our great math debate or, as I like to call it, "The Number Rumble." That was the day when... but wait, first let me tell you about Sam. Sam was still new to the neighborhood when The Number Rumble happened. He had moved in next door a few weeks before school started. At first, I thought he was just like me: tall, dark, and good-looking, well, except that he's got red hair, and the light skin to go with it. And I don't wear glasses. And, okay, so the good-looking part's just an illusion. But we liked the same things, like swimming, blading, biking, video games. There was one major, major difference, though -- he was nuts about numbers and anything else to do with math. Not that he was studying all summer or anything. We goofed around a lot. Pretty soon, he was just Sam to me. A regular guy who saw the world differently -- as numbers, shapes, and patterns. When we started school, everyone thought he was either a genius or a geek. Sam says he's neither. He prefers the word "mathnik" -- thinks it describes us technology-crazy kids perfectly. No way, I said, not me. But Sam says we were all born mathniks. I wasn't so sure about that, but there's no arguing with the guy. Anyway, Sam's low-key about his talent -- doesn't make a big deal about it. "Math is nothing special," he's always saying. "It's everywhere and in everything, and we all use it, not just me." Well, one day, he had to prove it. When the news first broke, there was cheering across the city. The director of education for our region had just announced that he was cutting math from the curriculum. No more math? Great, I thought. But when Sam's mom told him the news at breakfast, he said he jumped a mile -- wait, Sam prefers metric, so make that 1.609 kilometers -- out of his chair, like he