Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 As important as it is exceptional. March 1, 1999
Chris Hanks (chanks@uci.edu) (Irvine, CA)
52 out of 52 found this review helpful
In "Mathematics for the Million," Hogben takes the reader through the entire evolution of mathematics. He begins with ancient farmers whose meager math skills consisted of knowing the values 1, 2, 3, and "more than three," and shows how these skills grew out of necessity as societies became more complex. Hogben's goals are twofold. First, he means to educate the average person so that math won't remain the esoteric domain of academics. Second, he means to demonstrate that mathematical advances occur when math is used to solve real problems, and not when it's used as intellectual entertainment for an idle leisure class. Hogben succeeds on both accounts, and in doing so he (very subtly) develops a theory which anticipates the structural Marxism of the '50s and '60s, including the work of Louis Althusser, Herbert Marcuse, and Jurgen Habermas. But Hogben's real magic is that he makes all this accessible to anyone: Even those with no math background at all will be doing calculus by the end of the book, even performing calculations to measure the Earth's circumference or the distance to the moon. Never has such an opaque subject been as lucid as in "Mathematics for the Million."
A wonderful book! November 21, 1998
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the basis of many mathematical concepts that are taken for granted! Many concepts that are not fully explained in school are delineated brilliantly in M. for the M.! Everything is presented in its historical and societal contexts, thus adding even more meaning to the mathematical principles we use everyday (from basic math to calculus and probability).
For a light day trip take Hogben... June 16, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
An excellent book deserving of all praise. If I were packing a book for a day trip and had to go lightly I would take this book. For those who want to understand and not just do math this book is wonderful. Another wonderful book is: Jan Gullberg's "Mathematics From the Birth of Numbers," it is a heavy book for day trips.
The (not) magic of numbers September 4, 2005
Ran Weiss (Herzliya, ISRAEL)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Mathematics is no more black and scary magic, while we go through this book, which was written long ago, but seems to fit right-oh in our life as if perscribed just yesterday.
I've read it some 30 years ago and never forgot the quantum leap it gave me to win over the threat of mathematics.
How mathematics was learned December 7, 2006
Sheldon Lebowitz (Silver Spring, MD USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought a used copy of this book 3 years ago (it was published in 1944). To think that it was written for ordinary people 60 or more years ago is astonishing. One can learn all the math that 99% of people need during their lives. If todays high school students would take the time to learn what is so excellently explained in this book, they would score 650 - 800 on the math SAT exam. One example is: there is a chapter where the author walks you through all the calculations and probabilities needed to set up your own life insurance company! This beats calculating the probability of drawing 3 green balls out of an urn filled with green and red balls. Buy It.
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