Math with Bad Drawings: Illuminating the Ideas That Shape Our Reality
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Part of: Math Illuminated: A Visual Guide to Calculus and Its Applications (4 book series)
A hilarious and bestselling reintroduction to mathematics, illustrating the ideas with stories, humor, and stick figures.
In Math with Bad Drawings, Ben Orlin reveals what math is all about. His tools are unorthodox: jokes, cartoons, strange-but-true stories, and beneath it all, the empathy of a veteran teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone. Orlin helps us to think like mathematicians by teaching a brand-new game of tic-tac-toe, profiling the ten people you meet in line for the lottery, and documenting the headaches that ensue when the Evil Empire attempts to build a spherical Death Star. Math with Bad Drawings will change the way you see the subject—and the world.
74 reviews for Math with Bad Drawings: Illuminating the Ideas That Shape Our Reality
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Hans de Grys –
I love this book. Orlin leads a playful romp through a universe of mathematical ideas, with interesting stories, anecdotes, and examples. The book is at once profound but also highly accessible. Math-lovers will find a lot of to appreciate about this book, but so will young people, teachers, engineers and scientists, and the math-curious layperson. It’s laugh-out-loud funny in nearly every chapter, but your giggles and chortles will be interspersed with fascinated “hmmm…” and surprised “Ahhh!”s. The “bad drawings” are a highlight, but the clever writing is the real star. I can’t wait for volume 2! There will be a volume 2, right Mr. Orlin??
Reviewer –
I am familiar with the author’s blog and ordered this book thinking a math teacher friend would enjoy the humorous illustrations. I was surprised to see a lot more in the way of math explanation than I had expected. My kids were intrigued by an “Oral History of the Death Star” and why ants have no fear of falling. So we ended up buying one a copy for our family too.
The second half of the book is heavy on probability/statistics/reasoning and makes the ideas very accessible.
Jb –
I pre-ordered the book and was so excited when it arrived! I’m on Chapter 4 and can’t put it down. Ben’s writing style and explanations are engaging, truthful, insightful, and easy to understand. As a math teacher (and a lifelong math student), I especially identified with the chapter on how students see math. I plan to share many of the topics in the book with my high school math students. My wheels are spinning to create activities or discussion topics to weave into my classes from things that I’ve read so far in this book. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the book brings!
Breaking Math Podcast –
This book provides a fabulous overview of many different disciplines within mathematics and includes entertaining, effective drawings as well as humorous dialogue that disarms the reader and effectively illustrates the concepts. Charming, intelligent, and accessible. This is a must-have for anyone looking to improve their appreciation of the world of mathematics. -the Breaking Math Podcast
Haha –
I was inspired to buy this book by a blog that I read, and I’m glad that I did. The drawings, which are indeed bad, serve to humanize the subject. A wide range of topics is covered, from baseball and football statistics to state lotteries. A very enjoyable read, at least for this math-literate person.
SirOreo –
Well written and insightful book … drawings were quite entertaining and helped to illustrate points. I especially liked Ch 6 (We built this city on triangels) and Ch 15 (How to break the economy with a single pair of dice). Kudos!
S. T. –
The is the most fun you could ever have reading a math book. Ben Orlin’s writing makes all the topics come alive. He’s got a great sense of humor. I have laughed out loud multiple times while reading this book. Highly recommend to any people who are interested in enjoying some leisure math without lots of heavy lifting.
Jordan Greenblatt –
The math was great. The drawings could have been better.
mathfordragons –
Is you have read Silver’s signal and the noise, you will recognize the amazing overlap between awesome mathematical ideas and the world around us. I have followed Ben Orlin’s blog for years and he does not disappoint, even though the book is much more intellectual that *some* of his blog posts. Anyone wanting to review this book before buying should check out the amazing work Orlin has done on his blog for explaining math education in our modern age.
Anomalocaris –
Learning math and stick figures are not just for kids any more, folks. This is serious fun for grown-ups. Yeah, and learning too.
At first I lamented that I wan’t taught this way in first grade, then I realized that only grown-ups can have this much fun with this material because of all the roads that we have travelled.
Think of the book as a graphic/comic novel of short stories with colorful characters, witty dialogues and a grand backdrop of how the world works, only the world is our world, and not Disc World. But Ben Orlin could easily have been a wizard math professor at the Unseen U.
Good fun!
Lorenzo R –
on the lookout for books that talk about enjoyable math, I finally found a perfect specimen in “Math with Bad Drawings”. Great book!
James Orlin –
This is a great book! You will love this book! It’s the best book I’ve read all year, and I don’t say this just because the author is my son. You should buy it for yourself and give this book as a gift to anyone you know who loves math, or likes math, or at least isn’t phobic about math. You should definitely give this book as a gift to each your children, assuming that your child is at least 12 years old and isn’t the author. By the way, the author refers to “bad drawings.” I find the drawings cute and endearing. And they are WAY better than anything I can draw.
P.R. Hammerschmitt –
Different perspective on math
gilroy0 –
Orlin has a knack for rendering abstruse mathematics into readable simple language, with wit and humor. The bad drawings are actually clever and illuminative. For anyone interested in what math is like fo4 mathematicians, this book is awesome.
bls –
I really do love this book! I’ve recommended it to many friends, regardless of their background in math or other technical fields.
Laughin’ Hyaena –
Pretty dang fabulous. Great gift for my favorite nephew. It is exactly what the title says. Very enjoyable. Recommend it for anybody that is tough to buy a gift for.
John Oliverio –
If you love the blog you will get exactly what makes it great. Kudos on the formatting – very engaging.
Oana –
Great book
No Nmae –
Great read.
khm –
Orlin has an authentic taste in mathematics education and his approach to overcoming traditional burdens in this subject are novel, simple, and come from understanding the source of frustration our students feel. So, he takes on the problem by starting at the end goals of all mathematics that we keep preaching at students but never get them there, whether it is the artistic beauty of it or it is very concrete applications.
angelo –
Very good book.Very good delivery
Math Customer –
I have used the author’s comics on my math classroom wall since I discovered him. When I realized that he was writing a book, I pre-ordered and then I gave one to a daughter for her birthday, Christmas will bring it to another daughter, a brother and a sister. It does not dissapoint.
Eva Höglin –
I bought and read this book to be able to discuss math with my son who studies mathematics. It truly served its purpose. It was good food for thought and and gave me many insights on everyday phenomena like lotteries and insurances.
The Polymath –
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Not sure I have every read a math book that was this enjoyable. A lot of fun and you learn or refresh what you have already learned along the way. For serious mathematicians, it is a nice humorous break from equation overload. For non-mathematicians, the book focuses on concepts and not so much on mathematical notation.
Math Customer –
This is a delight to read if you already love math or hated it in school. It’s fascinating and funny and friendly.
Mauve_48 –
I got this for my son in law. I am waiting to hear what he thinks. Both my daughter and son in-law teach math.
Nanook –
our only complaint is that there is no index!!
Leandrea Hall –
Hard to put down, fun and interesting.
J. Bassett –
OK, with the title of “Math with Bad Drawings,” I’m not quite sure what I expected, but I’m not disappointed. It is not heavy on the math, meaning there is enough English to make reading it enjoyable.
I haven’t sat down and read the book yet; I’ve done the “let’s check out this part” routine. I plan on starting it this weekend. I don’t have the book in front of me, but there is one chapter about Darth Vader’s Death Star that I’m looking forward to reading.
Once I’m finished, the rating may increase. 🙂
Math Customer –
This looks like a really interesting book.
Math Customer –
This was a book requested by my granddaughter. She was very pleased to receive it for Christmas.
Piaw Na –
Sometimes, I’ll watch as Bowen puts down an advanced book he’s been reading, and revert to reading a pre-school book more suitable to his brother.
Calico lady –
I found this book to be an enjoyable and informative read, and yes sir, I also read the endnotes. I also was inspired to check out the web sites Mr Orlin provided; well worth the detour. I love his artwork as well, and as someone who is not so talented in math, I found a new level of understanding and appreciation. Many thanks for a delightful read!
Bibliophile –
Fantastic book that makes math concepts accessible and fun.
Pbaker –
Such a great resource for any math teacher!
Hyacinth –
This book does not contain all that much math. You won’t learn to factor trinomials or do all that stuff from fourth semester calculus that I never quite got a handle on. What the book does contain is loads of fun plus a straightforward review of some of the principles of mathematical research plus more fun plus a bit of math plus fun. All this sums up to a great read, enjoyable by everyone who’s ever opened a textbook and asked, “why the heck is this so boring?!”
Math Customer –
What the title of the book undersells is how great the words of this book are. If you’re curious about math in everyday life or are into fun graphs and games, this book is for you. My son (age 11) is as enthralled with this book as I am (age…. ahem).
Math Customer –
I completed only half of the book so far. It is an interesting book with funny diagrams and explanations. Me and my daughter started playing ultimate tic tax toe after reading this book.
Boutros Ghassibi –
Fun to read. A little slow for an adult.
A lot of witty sarcasm; a little too much for me.
jpear –
I bought this book for my son at one of our “let’s go to the bookstore family dates”. He is 11 and is in 6th grade. He has brought this book with him to school to read during his math class when there is down time. He loves math and loves this book! We have unloaded his backpack and forgot to put it back in and it’s the first thing I hear when I he gets home. He has learned so much. Last week his class was given a page full of problems to see how far they could go, and he was the only one who finished the whole page, he sited this book for teaching him what he needed to know. Something they had not covered in class yet.
MikeyMommy –
I am a middle school math teacher and I cannot say enough great things about this book. It is written with humor and in a style to be understood and appreciated by any adult, math inclined or not. I left it sitting on the kitchen table and my 11-year-old began flipping through it, drawn-in by the cute and quirky illustrations. He became engrossed, reading about complex math topics for longer than I ever would have predicted. If more adults could appreciate math in this way, and pass that appreciation on to their kids, we’d have a more math-literate society. Everyone, please, read this book! You won’t regret it.
aprb181 –
Love it
Peer Sylvester –
Mathematikbegeisterte, die hier ein neues populärwissenschaftliches Werk erwarten, werden vermutlich enttäuscht, da sie das meiste kennen dürften: Math in Bad drawings bietet einen schönen Überblick über verschiedene Teilbereiche der Mathematik (vor allem Geometrie und Stochastik/Statistik), aber vieles kennt man als regelmäßiger Leser solcher Werke schon. Nein, dieses Buch will Begeisterung für Mathematik wecken, wo allenfalls lauwarmes Interesse steckt. Das dürfte dank viel Humor und netten (aber prinzipiell unwichtigen) Strichmännchengraphiken gelingen. Die Stärke des Buches ist die Begeisterung mit welcher der Autor hier Mathematik vermittelt und viele Anwendungen (von Versicherungen bis zum Amerikanischen Wahlsystem) aufzeigt und erklärt. Gelegentlich treibt er einen Witz zu weit und dafür eine Erklärung zu kurz, aber im großen und ganzen erreicht er m.E. sein Ziel. Ich selbst bin Mathematiklehrer und habe einige Anregungen gefunden und habe mich gut unterhalten gefühlt – auch wenn ich 90% des Buches schon in der einen oder anderen Form kannte.
Übrigens stammt vieles aus dem gleichnamigem Blog des Autoren, man kann dort also reinschnuppern, ob einem der Stil liegt oder nicht.
Joseph R. Sweeney –
I bought this book because it sounded interesting. I’m not disappointed. I enjoy the author’s casual style and his explanations are interesting (although sometimes his humor seems a little stretched). And, I don’t think the drawings are actually that bad! But then, I’m not an artist. I do have a Bachelor’s in Mathematics, though.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with at least some understanding of mathematics and who is looking for a fun tour through history and practical applications.
Kayla Malone –
Good read
R. Sine –
What a fun way to engage my daughter in learning math. She has been so hesitant about doing any type of math because we just really struggled with finding a way to teach it that didn’t leave her in tears of frustration. We haven’t done much with it but she actually picked it up herself and started reading. I have hope!!! I’ll update soon with how she’s doing as far as the actual learning but for now I think it’s pretty great.
neng –
I love math and it is nice to read something about math which is also enjoyable at the same time.
Mark –
The author does a great job of explaining the way a mathematician thinks. You don’t need to know a lot about math to enjoy the book – you just need to be interested.
Ethanmama –
I brought one from a book store, for myself. My 9 year old son found it out and can’t stop reading it.
Fran R –
this is a great fun way to think about the many ways that math is part of our lives. i’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate it into middle school math, so if anyone out there has some ideas…
Austin –
Feedback from the kid said it was fun…learned a lot she had not know before…a very precocious 10 year old.
Rob Carnes –
Superb book. Written with both whimsy and insight. Math as it should be.
JB –
Love this book!!
johnK –
It’s a far ranging humorously written math book that is made charming by the clever, truly primitive and subtle drawings. The drawings are an essential part of the story and add a great deal. I’ve a couple of technical degrees and still learned some things. I think a curious non-technical person would be rewarded by reading it. It has formulas but don’t require math skills beyond high school.
Denissa Pope –
Given as a gift, packaged well, interesting book!
Placeholder –
Skyler –
This is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. Never thought that I’d say that with a book devoted to math, but it’s true. Ben Orlin is such a great writer. There were many times where I laughed out loud. The content was informative, entertaining, hilarious, and interesting. Couldn’t recommend it enough.
Polar Bear in the Arctic –
Interesting read. Great looking book!
Athan –
A Pixar movie of a book: the plot is for the kids; the jokes are for the adults.
With that said, the jokes are AWESOME, the little cartoons much better than the title suggests and the (ninth grade) math is explained so well I wish I had this book in ninth grade. Perhaps these days it’s an eighth grade book, I don’t know. (My kids are still too young.)
Also, rather embarrassingly, I LEARNED STUFF FROM HERE. No, I did not learn math. I learned stuff I ought to have figured out for myself but was too focused on my grades to ponder. Like, why elephants have thick legs: for the same reason the sky is black! I’m serious, it’s the same reason and you can read it here…
Halfway through the book the author actually runs out of amazing things about the natural world and from there he takes you to the mathematics of Wall Street and the IRS, which I did not find as captivating, let us say. It all remains just as funny, though.
So this was a fun book to read. Probably an awesome gift for your friends’ kids. If the little ones don’t read it, the adults will at least get some good laughs out of it.
Math Customer –
Enjoying the book.
Rebecca Foster –
My son loves this book – he’s on his 3rd pass through. He’s 12. Ok, its a precocious 12 but he’s still sitting on the corner of the couch giggling as he reads – I’m calling that a win.
Cristhy Galvez –
Great read highly recommend for all math lovers.
Math Customer –
As a math teacher I fully appreciated all the examples, connections, and yes, even the “bad” drawings. It’s fun to see the practicality and humor in a topic that so many have deemed boring.
Stephanie Englehaupt –
Book is filled with fun math and ideas. The drawings are not bad after all.
joshuatreefan –
Plus he makes it fun.
Math Customer –
The humor style grows on you. Footnotes were great. Second half was much better then the firs half, keep reading.
Rider –
and he read straight through the book. There are some math concepts he hasn’t had yet, but enjoys math and the presentation caught him. I have been reading it as well.
Wallflower –
Just plain fun! Laugh out loud summaries of mathematical thoughts.
I especially liked what he showed about math and measuring school success, and labor and production.
Pater Wolfe –
It’s a book, bought it for our son who has a PHD. in math, hope he finds it funny
MDauldschool –
I am not facile in math and have no desire to tackle difficult equations. But I do recognize that math is fundamental to the world as we conceive it. This book gave me insight to the underlying principles of mathematics and was both interesting and enjoyable.
Kathy W. –
Very clear explanations. Range of topics covered a bit thin for someone with accounting background. i.e. I already knew 50% or more. For general population probably great.
Ian Simon –
The first few chapters had specific mathematical concepts. Subsequent chapters seemed to focus on more abstract and broader topics of mathematical applications in society. I was hoping for more interesting mathematical concepts, but it was still very interesting and an enjoyable read.
Daviddd –
Nice to read through, print quality in hardcover is great.
Niche –
This was a pretty slow start for me. The humor didn’t really click, and I didn’t find if particularly engaging until probability and statistics came to the fore about a third in. It mostly argues that math isn’t some esoteric and impractical exercise, but instead a language of logic.