“l cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Calculus
Strogatz, Steven. Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe. 2019. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket. Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number – infinity – to tackle real world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous. Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves. Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS. As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew.
Learning
Boaler, Jo. MATH-ish. 1st ed. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2024.
Mathematics is a fundamental part of life, yet every one of us has a unique relationship with learning and understanding the subject. Working with numbers may inspire confidence in our abilities or provoke anxiety and trepidation. Stanford researcher, mathematics education professor, and the leading expert on math learning Dr. Jo Boaler argues that our differences are the key to unlocking our greatest mathematics potential.
In Math-ish, Boaler shares new neuroscientific research on how embracing the concept of “math-ish”—a theory of mathematics as it exists in the real world—changes the way we think about mathematics, data, and ourselves. When we can see the value of diversity among people and multi-faceted approaches to learning math, we are free to truly flourish.
When mathematics is approached more broadly, inclusively, and with a greater sense of wonder and play—when we value the different ways people see, approach, and understand it—we empower ourselves and gain a beneficial understanding of its value in our lives.
Miller, L. Beyond Brilliance: The Blueprint for Learning Anything. 2016. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Most books for students give you the same old advice: work hard, take detailed notes, use a planner, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, ignore this one. Beyond Brilliance shows you a better, faster, and easier way to succeed in school and develop mastery (according to decades of science). Read it and you’ll know why certain memories are stickier than others, why self-control is more important than effort, and why snoozing more can mean studying less. The truth is, getting top grades and becoming an effective learner is something anyone can do. You don’t need to be naturally “brilliant”—intelligence is something we can all develop over time. You don’t need to pull all-nighters. You don’t need to sacrifice your social life. You don’t even need to give up the gym. What you really need to do is learn how learning actually works. Then, you can use that skill to get better at anything you like. This book shows you the way. You’ll learn why certain myths about learning might be holding you back, the most practical and most efficient tools researchers know about how to absorb material, how to conquer procrastination, and tons more straightforward insights that will inspire and empower you. Unlike vague, scammy self-help books, Beyond Brilliance is helpful. And unlike academic textbooks, it’s understandable and to the point. With its short, illustrated chapters and focus on general principles, it’s the perfect playbook for any student who’s ever dreamed of a better way. Engineering majors at MIT, C students, victims of tracking and standardized testing, homeschoolers, and graduate students in a variety of fields will all find valuable guidance in these pages.
Other
Stuart, Jesse. The Thread That Runs So True: A Mountain School Teacher Tells His Story. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1949.
First published in 1949, Jesse Stuart’s now classic personal account of his twenty years of teaching in the mountain region of Kentucky has enchanted and inspired generations of students and teachers. With eloquence and wit, Stuart traces his twenty-year career in education, which began, when he was only seventeen years old, with teaching grades one through eight in a one-room schoolhouse. Before long Stuart was on a path that made him principal and finally superintendent of city and county schools. The road was not smooth, however, and Stuart faced many challenges, from students who were considerably older—and bigger—than he to well-meaning but distrustful parents, uncooperative administrators and, most daunting, his own fear of failure. Through it all, Stuart never lost his abiding faith in the power of education. A graceful ode to what he considered the greatest profession there is, Jesse Stuart’s The Thread That Runs So True is timeless proof that “good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal.”
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Mathematical Mysteries 