Algebra Can Be Fun

Book excerpt: This is a book of entertaining problems that can be solved through the use of algebra, problems with intriguing plots to excite the readers curiosity, amusing excursions into the history of mathematics, unexpected uses that algebra is put to in everyday affairs, and more. Algebra Can Be Fun has brought hundreds of thousands of youngsters into the fold of mathematics and its wonders. It is written in the form of lively sketches that discuss the multifarious (and exciting!) applications of algebra to the world about us. Here we encounter equations, logarithms, roots, progressions, the ancient and famous Diophantine analysis and much more. The examples are pictorial, vivid, often witty and bring out the essence of the matter at hand. There are numerous excursions into history and the history of algebra too. No one who has read this book will ever regard mathematics again in a dull light" Reviewers regard it as one of the finest examples of popular science writing.