Thom reviewed Measurement by Paul Lockhart
Review of 'Measurement' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Investigation of the ideal universe of math, as opposed to the real world of discrete surfaces and discontinuities. Digs into patterns and describes the beauty of ideal mathematics, connecting concepts with curiosity. The author describes the book as personal, and I agree.
Like reality, though, it wasn't perfect. Bold sentences interrupt the text, describing what the author sees as "problems and questions that occur to me." These were occasionally interesting but nearly always jarring, breaking the narrative. Sections (chapters?) were quite short, I think it would have been better to collect these bold questions at the end of each. I ended up just skipping them, perhaps missing something of interest, but definitely finishing the book.
Other minor quibbles include a skipped step in the proof of Heron's formula and a bit of glossing over sine and cosine (and no mention of how they are related to tangents!). It's a good …
Investigation of the ideal universe of math, as opposed to the real world of discrete surfaces and discontinuities. Digs into patterns and describes the beauty of ideal mathematics, connecting concepts with curiosity. The author describes the book as personal, and I agree.
Like reality, though, it wasn't perfect. Bold sentences interrupt the text, describing what the author sees as "problems and questions that occur to me." These were occasionally interesting but nearly always jarring, breaking the narrative. Sections (chapters?) were quite short, I think it would have been better to collect these bold questions at the end of each. I ended up just skipping them, perhaps missing something of interest, but definitely finishing the book.
Other minor quibbles include a skipped step in the proof of Heron's formula and a bit of glossing over sine and cosine (and no mention of how they are related to tangents!). It's a good book, worthy of 3½ stars - and I really need to read the authors most important work, A Mathematician's Lament.