Numbers and Figures: Six Math Conversations Starting from Scratch

One of the great charms of mathematics is uncovering unexpected connections. In Numbers and Figures, Giancarlo Travaglini provides six conversations that do exactly that by talking about several topics in elementary number theory and some of their connections to geometry, calculus, and real-life problems such as COVID-19 vaccines or fiscal frauds. Each conversation is in two parts―an introductory essay which provides a gentle introduction to the topic and a second section that delves deeper and requires study by the reader. The topics themselves are extremely appealing and include, for example, Pick’s theorem, Simpson’s paradox, Farey sequences, the Frobenius problem, and Benford’s Law. Numbers and Figures will be a useful resource for college faculty teaching Elementary Number Theory or Calculus. The chapters are largely independent and could make for nice course-ending projects or even lead-ins to high school or undergraduate research projects. The whole book would make for an enjoyable semester-long independent reading course. Faculty will find it entertaining bedtime reading and, last but not least, readers more generally will be interested in this book if they miss the accuracy and imagination found in their high school and college math courses.