The Joy of X

A Guided Tour of Math, From One to Infinity

by Steven H. Strogatz

English language

Published Oct. 18, 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

ISBN:: 978-0-547-51765-0

(15 reviews)

A world-class mathematician and regular contributor to the New York Times hosts a delightful tour of the greatest ideas of math, revealing how it connects to literature, philosophy, law, medicine, art, business, even pop culture in ways we never imagined

Did O.J. do it? How should you flip your mattress to get the maximum wear out of it? How does Google search the Internet? How many people should you date before settling down? Believe it or not, math plays a crucial role in answering all of these questions and more.

Math underpins everything in the cosmos, including us, yet too few of us understand this universal language well enough to revel in its wisdom, its beauty — and its joy. This deeply enlightening, vastly entertaining volume translates math in a way that is at once intelligible and thrilling. Each trenchant chapter of The Joy of x offers an “aha!” moment, starting with why numbers are so helpful, and progressing through the wondrous truths implicit in p, the Pythagorean theorem, irrational numbers, fat tails, even the rigors and surprising charms of calculus. Showing why he has won awards as a professor at Cornell and garnered extensive praise for his articles about math for the New York Times , Strogatz presumes of his readers only curiosity and common sense. And he rewards them with clear, ingenious, and often funny explanations of the most vital and exciting principles of his discipline.

Whether you aced integral calculus or aren’t sure what an integer is, you’ll find profound wisdom and persistent delight in The Joy of x .

4 editions

Stephanie Jane reviewed The Joy of X by Steven H. Strogatz

Great enthusiasm

4 stars

Dave bought a couple of maths books a while ago, inspired by our going to a fascinating Simon Singh talk about the hidden maths in the Simpsons TV series. The Joy of X was the first I've tried to read. The first few pages were fine and I could follow exactly what Strogatz was saying. However, once we got past 'fish fish fish fish fish fish', it all got a bit tougher! Strogatz does explain his topics well and in normal English rather than obscure language, even if math instead of maths does grate a bit to begin with. I enjoyed the historical explanations of each topic and the progression of chapters also helped. I think I understood most of what was written, although being able to reproduce the thoughts independently probably isn't going to happen, but a lot that lost me during Secondary School is now much clearer. Strogatz's …

Rito Ghosh reviewed The Joy of X by Steven H. Strogatz

Review of 'The joy of X' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Fantastic book, self-contained small chapters, covers a huge breadth of the field with very interesting stories.

Despite this being a pop-sci book, it does not lose its mathematical rigor.

Absolutely fabulous and enjoyable. And truly edifying.

For anyone on and off the field, for anyone remotely interested in Mathematics.

I have an advanced degree in STEM, and yet I learned a lot of new things from this book.

Highly recommend.