joseph p. wright

From addition and subtraction to plane and space geometry, simultaneous linear equations, and probability, this book explains middle school math with problems that kids want to solve: “Seventy-five employees of a company buy a lotto ticket together and win $22.5 million. How much does each employee get?” Intriguing facts about the history of math show what a human creation it is, and human errors are revealed through explorations of both Maya and Hindu concepts of zero as well as Mr. William Shanks’ 1858 attempt at hand-calculating pi.