Month: February 2022

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Simply Maths

The book Simply Maths is now published by Dorling Kindersley and I have received my author copy! It explains everyday maths topics in a simple visual way, with few words, and even fewer hard sums. It also introduces a few not-so-everyday topics, to help the realisation that maths isn’t just about percentages and fractions, or going supermarket shopping. It’s in a wonderful handy format, with attractively illustrated pages. I do hope you have a chance to look at  this book and enjoy it.

The perfect book to receive on 22/02/2022.

 

Simply Maths from Dorling Kindersley

Do visit the DK website here to get a copy:

https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241515686-simply-maths/

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Twos and zeros

Today’s date is the 2nd of February, 2022 or 02/02/2022. All those twos and zeros are rather satisfying. The Pythagoreans aimed to describe the universe using numbers and shapes. They regarded 2 as representing the female principle; however, they did not have zero as a number. It seems strange now but it was not an obvious concept at all. The idea of a positional number system with place value emerged slowly over centuries, typically with a placeholder symbol representing ‘nothingness’,  and not regarded as a number in its own right. Probably the most advanced of these systems was the Mayans, who were totally detached from the Graeco-Roman and Indian advances in mathematics, but could calculate efficiently into the millions. It was not until the 7th century CE in India that the illustrious mathematician Brahmagupta established the arithmetical rules for zero that we use today.

Two and zero – an image of duality: matter and antimatter emerging from the void.  Have a good day, and look out for 20/02/2022 in a couple of weeks!