Book review: 'Cool Math: 50 Fantastic Facts for Kids of All Ages' is a good reminder of basic math facts

These days, with so many of the world's kids educating at home (thanks, Covid-19), it seems like more parents have found themselves having to remember math long forgotten. With that in mind, let me introduce, Cool Math: 50 Fantastic Facts for Kids of All Ages.

While this book is geared toward kids, it is full of great math reminders for adults, too. This book goes over all the basic formulas, from finding areas and understanding pi, to learning Roman Numerals and understanding Fibonacci's sequence.

Image from Amazon

While I knew most of the mathematics taught in this book, I was fascinated with reading about the Four Color Theorem, which was a mathematical problem that baffled scientists for years and was finally, officially, figured out by computers in 1976.

What tricky question was it, you may wonder, that ended up having its own theorem? Well, back in the day, printers needed to print maps and they wanted to use the fewest number of colors as possible (more colors = more expense) but they didn't want any political boundaries to have the same colors. So, what was the fewest number of colors they could use? Hmmm? Yeah, four. And, while that problem doesn't seem tricky now, reading about how it baffled people for so long was pretty entertaining.

This book also taught me a really fun number trick called Kaprekar's Constant. After I read about it, I had my doubts so I came up with my own number, followed the instructions and, gasp, was shocked to realize the so-called constant really WAS a constant! Then I had my 12-year-old come to the table and told him to think up his own number, follow the steps, and then, yet another gasp, he came up with the same solution! We got a huge kick out of that.

Wait, does the above paragraph just define us as nerds?

I'm totally fine with that.

Cool Math teaches how to break down recipes, depending on how many you need to feed, makes Euclid seem totally easy, and teaches how Julius Caesar sent ciphers. It teaches about magic squares, lightning, statistical means, and how to figure out if something is truly on sale.

Dang, did you know math could be so all-encompassing?

This fun book isn't meant to replace math books, but it definitely makes math fun and is a great way to relearn subjects.

Cool Math has nothing offensive in it and will probably be best understood by those 12 and older.

Review breakdown:
112 pages
Simple color illustrations
Best for ages: 12 through adult
Educational factor: high
Moral content: Nothing to worry about
Parents could be concerned about: Your kids might end up knowing more math than you do