{"id":4233,"date":"2015-09-01T16:01:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T23:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about-hmc\/?p=4233"},"modified":"2024-03-27T10:13:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T17:13:11","slug":"benjamin-writes-book-for-math-lovers-and-math-phobics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/2015\/09\/01\/benjamin-writes-book-for-math-lovers-and-math-phobics\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin&#8217;s Book Has Appeal for Math Lovers and Math-phobics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Think of a number between 20 and 100. Then add the digits together. Now subtract the total from your original number. Finally, add the digits of the new number together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re thinking of the number 9, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, if you\u2019re not, you may do well to read the new book by Harvey Mudd College mathematics Professor Art Bejnamin: <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Magic-Math-Solving-Figuring-Out\/dp\/0465054722\/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8\">The Magic of Math: Solving for x and Figuring Out Why<\/a> <\/em>(available Sept. 8)<em>.<\/em> Benjamin shows how the math we learned in school\u2014from basic counting and arithmetic to algebra, geometry and beyond\u2014can be easy, intuitive and fun. \u201cNumbers, shapes and pure logic can yield delightful surprises,\u201d Benjamin says. \u201cAnd with just a little bit of algebra or geometry, you can often discover the secrets behind the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benjamin, holder of the Smallwood Family Chair at Harvey Mudd, has been called America\u2019s Best Math Whiz by <em>Reader\u2019s Digest<\/em> and was named one of America\u2019s 300 Best Professors by <em>Princeton Review<\/em>. Also a magician, he has performed his \u201cmathemagics\u201d shows at thousands of schools, universities, conferences and public venues around the world. Combined, his three TED talks on math have been viewed more than 11 million times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A dynamic presenter who has been praised for his ability to entertain, motivate, stimulate and educate simultaneously, Benjamin has appeared on numerous television programs, including <em>Today<\/em>, <em>The Colbert Report<\/em> and <em>The Queen Latifah Show<\/em>. He and his work have also been featured in the <em>New York Times<\/em>, <em>Los Angeles Times<\/em>, <em>USA Today<\/em>, <em>People Magazine<\/em> and <em>Wired<\/em>, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/Benjamin-BookCover-sm.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/Benjamin-BookCover-sm-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"Benjamin-The Magic of Math\" class=\"wp-image-4234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/Benjamin-BookCover-sm-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/Benjamin-BookCover-sm.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Introducing readers to broad areas of math\u2014including algebra, geometry and calculus\u2014 Benjamin also zeroes in on the magic of specific numbers and concepts, among them: Pascal\u2019s triangle, infinity, pi, <em>e<\/em>, <em>i<\/em>, Fibonacci numbers, the golden ratio, and\u2014his personal favorite\u2014the number 9. But in <em>The Magic of Math<\/em> Benjamin does more than just teach skills; he shows readers how easy it is to appreciate math the way he does. Proofs can seem like tedious little frustration machines, but with Benjamin, readers learn to appreciate them as gems of logic that are integral parts of a much larger and more beautiful whole. \u201cOne of the great joys of doing mathematics,\u201d Benjamin writes, \u201cis the ability to prove things true beyond a shadow of a doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout <em>The Magic of Math,<\/em> Benjamin\u2019s appreciation for the elegance and relevance of math is contagious. He wants readers to learn something new about how to solve for <em>x<\/em>, because, as he notes, there is real pleasure to be found in the solution to a challenging problem, or in using numbers to do something useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benjamin has received numerous awards for his writing and teaching and served as editor of <em>Math Horizons<\/em> magazine for the Mathematical Association of America. Co-author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/2015\/02\/06\/benjamin-co-authors-book-graph-theory\/\"><em>The Fascinating World of Graph Theory<\/em> <\/a>and author of <em>Secrets of Mental Math<\/em>, Benjamin holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Benjamin is touring the United States to share <em>The Magic of Math.<\/em> Upcoming book signing events in California will be held<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sept. 13, 2 p.m., Barnes &amp; Noble, Montclair Plaza (5183 Montclair Plaza Lane)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m., Warwick\u2019s in La Jolla (7812 Girard Avenue)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oct. 18, 4 p.m., Vroman\u2019s Bookstore in Pasadena (695 East Colorado Boulevard)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sept. 11, 6 p.m., Proof School in San Francisco (555 Post Street)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall Seattle (1119 8th Avenue)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sept. 23, 6:30 p.m., Museum of Mathematics, New York (11 East 26th Street)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/benjaminmaths.com\">Benjamin Maths<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/Arthur-Benjamin-on-West-Coast-Live-2015.09.12.mp3\">Art Benjamin interviewed on KALW&#8217;s West Coast Live<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think of a number between 20 and 100. Then add the digits together. Now subtract the total from your original [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":3614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14,22],"class_list":["post-4233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-engagement","category-faculty","category-mathematics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4233"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13008,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions\/13008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}