| Title | : | Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781846147647 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 455 |
| Publication | : | First published October 7, 2014 |
- Fit a 2p coin through an impossibly small hole!
- Make a perfect regular pentagon by knotting a piece of paper!
- Tie your shoes faster than ever before, saving literally seconds of your life!
- Use those extra seconds to contemplate the diminishing returns of an exclamation-point at the end of every bullet-point!
- Make a working computer out of dominoes!
Maths is a game. This book can be cut, drawn in, folded into shapes and will even take you to the fourth dimension.
So join stand-up mathematician Matt Parker on a journey through narcissistic numbers, optimal dating algorithms, at least two different kinds of infinity and more.
Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension Reviews
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I first heard about this on Quirks & Quarks from CBC Radio. Then Josie, one of my Canadian friends still teaching in England, was filling me in on how she went to one of Matt Parker’s stand-up events and how awesome it was. When I informed her I had purchased a signed copy of Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension on the Internets, she was suitably envious. Not, however, as envious as I was for her singular stand-up experience—I don’t like stand-up, but I’d probably watch math stand-up.
Here’s my secret when reviewing math books: don’t focus on the math. Because, you know, anyone with a math degree can write about math. Writing about math is not hard. It’s making math accessible that’s hard. Now, that’s not because math is somehow more difficult for the average person to comprehend than any other highly-specialized field. We only have this perception as an unfortunate side-effect of our industrialized education system, which has traditionally insisted that we should learn math through rote memorization of rules.
Matt Parker rightly embraces a much more flexible idea about how we can learn math. Specifically, he champions recreational mathematics. That’s right, people: doing math for fun!
If you’re sceptical, I don’t blame you—see my point above about school systems. It’s really unfortunate we break people and squash their love of math so early like this. If I were better with young children I might consider becoming a primary school teacher to rectify this. As it is, my head stuck up here in the calculus clouds, I can only evangelize recreational math from afar.
See, we mathematicians know what people with a warped idea of math do not: mathematics is a creative discipline. Someone had to find the Fibonacci sequence, and they didn’t do it by looking at nature. Someone had to devise and name different dimensions of shapes. And mathematicians do this by investigating, by looking at what we already know and finding the gaps. Yes, they do this is a systematic way, and they have to do it rigorously before other mathematicians will agree with them. But a lot of mathematical discoveries have literally come about because of mathematicians just playing with numbers and shapes and ideas.
This idea pervades Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension, which is organized in such a way to progress from basic ideas about numbers to very abstract ideas about functions, dimensions, and infinity. You’re not going to understand all of it, and that’s OK. Understanding everything is not the goal of reading a popular math or popular science book—getting a glimpse behind the curtain, understanding why it’s important, piquing your interest to learn more; these are the goals. (I’m trying to pump you up and help you be more resilient here, because I won’t lie to you and pretend it’s easy to follow everything, either in this book or in others like it.) Don’t worry though, because the author will always be around to help you out. Parker writes with a sense of humour that’s only to be expected considering his comedic career. (Britain really does seem to have cornered the market on funny mathematicians….)
There are also lots of practical exercises too. And I don’t mean questions you need to calculate and answer. I mean activities, templates for you to cut out and puzzles for you to consider. Parker is very proactive in demonstrating some of the practical ramifications of even the most esoteric ideas, from calculating digital roots to knitting 3D projections of 4D shapes. I could easily see some of this stuff working in a classroom setting if, you know, you’re not the kind of math teacher that thinks we should just memorize it all.
Really, when it gets down to it, this is how we need to be teaching and learning math. Reading a book about math is all well and good—I love doing it. But you need to learn by doing math. You need to try these things yourself, to investigate a problem until you hit upon interesting and sometimes unexpected results. This is one of the greatest things about mathematics: you can, in theory, verify every math result ever discovered by someone else. And you don’t even need specialized equipment: most of the time you just need a ruler, some scissors, and some paper. (And maybe a calculator or a computer for the recent discoveries!) This is DIY math at its finest.
I learned some neat things in the chapters that Parker devotes to higher-dimensional shapes. This is not an area of math I’ve studied in much detail, and conceptualizing higher-dimensional shapes is, of course, very difficult! Yet he explains it clearly. I also appreciate how much he uses computer programs to help him investigate relationships and ideas. As someone who also enjoys writing Python scripts, I’m always happy to see my interest in math and computers come together.
On the flip side, I know a lot about graph theory and enjoyed his section on that. He doesn’t really do anything new when it comes to talking about old chestnuts like the Four Colour Theorem and its infamous proof. Nevertheless, this is one of those areas of math that people never hear about unless they go into university, despite it being so interesting and widely applicable.
Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension is a lovely and informative book. It’s a great example of how to write well about doing math for fun. Parker is ever-encouraging, ever-understanding, ready to make fun of math, mathematicians, school, and himself—and yes, my dear reader, you as well. This is a safe book in that sense: you’re not going to be judged for not liking math or not having much luck, so far, with it. But thanks to Matt Parker, you can roll your own math and enjoy doing it. We need more books like this! Until then, read this one.
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Matt Parker is a comedian who does stand-up math. Or he is a mathematician doing stand-up comedy…I forget which lifestyle definition attracted me to
his routines on YouTube: some are complicated enough to make you forget to laugh…unless, that is, you are already in on the math basics he is sharing. I learned about Parker’s new book
from the mathematician Ben Babcock, whose website reviews recently-published science fiction, among other things. I was impressed with his assessment that “this is DIY math at its finest”-- impressed enough, after looking at it myself, to buy copies for my teenaged nephews.
Besides that, in
the YouTube clip I saw, Parker is wearing maths paraphernalia like a “smooth geometric t-shirt” sold by
DESIGNBYHÜMANS that is über-cool for mathheads. I like to encourage thinking and innovation of any kind.
Parker doesn’t neglect important relevant applications of mathematics: how to cut a pizza equally with crust or without, how best to keep your headphone wires from tangling, how to tie your shoes (!) the maths way…in other words, ways to learn and test math principles using everyday objects…or your classroom full of students. It actually does sound fun, which I guess is the point. Babcock, who I mention above, makes it clear that one really understands maths by doing math, which is perhaps even more to the point. -
I learned about Matt Parker from his own
“standupmaths” and other youtube channels in which he explains mathematical facts in a comprehensible and entertaining way. Originally a maths(*) teacher from Australia he switched to stand-up comedy for a while before he combined his talents to become a stand-up mathematician and is now working as the Public Engagement in Mathematics Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.
The maths in this book covers a lot of ground. To start with, this is not a puzzle book. There are some puzzles in here too, but they play a minor role. On the whole this is a text about maths, which also contains numerous illustrations and, of course, formulas, but not that many. The chapters are relatively short and there’s more text to read and enjoy than formulas to chew on.
It is a book for the mathematically interested layman and lover of numbers (and shapes, because there’s also a lot of geometry to be read about). True mathematicians would probably be bored, but for me it was just right in scope and depth. Some things interested me more than others and I already knew some topics from Parker’s videos, but other things were completely new to me. The writing style is consistently conversational and witty and a good mix of seriousness and humor, just right for “recreational maths”. The reader is asked to participate. To perform the calculations, drawings, cuttings, folding and sticking together you are advised to keep the following items nearby: A pocket calculator, pen and paper, a ruler, compass, scissors, adhesive material, oranges or other spherical fruits (the more the better), as well as infinitely many numbered balls for an experiment (if not enough balls are available, this experiment can also be carried out in your mind).
There’s also some interesting facts to learn about the mathematicians and their time. For instance it was new to me that as recently as two centuries ago some mathematicians were still in denial about negative numbers. What the author calls the Negative Revolution started around the 1530s and lasted until 1620s. It then took two more centuries for mathematics to fully embrace 0 and negative numbers as being as real as any positive number!
In addition, some chapters deal with the subject of computers and how they work in principle. The author has built a simple machine for adding numbers on the occasion of a science festival using 10,000 dominoes and plenty of time. This “computer” was able to add two three-digit binary numbers and give the four-digit result and it took the machine forty-eight seconds to do that. Afterwards it takes six hours to set up the dominoes again before another calculation can be made which is equal to a processor speed of roughly 46 microhertz.
Unfortunately there are a few errors in the book. As long as there are only typos in the text, it is not so bad and besides there are not many. Alas, there are also mistakes in the mathematical formulas, especially in the last chapter The Answers at the Back of the Book in which some open questions are being answered, and some (light) mathematical proves can be found. Those errors might be confusing for inexperienced readers, in other words for the target audience. Also the formatting of the formulas is less than ideal, although this might be a problem with the Kindle version only.
All in all I had great fun reading about maths again after so many years.
(*) I decided to use the British word “maths” here instead of “math” because of the author’s origin and current residence, and also because each of the 19+ chapters in this book deal with “math”, and that adds up to a whole lot “maths”.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. -
Matt Parker starts with the idea that many people don’t enjoy math because they’ve never been allowed to play around with it. In other disciplines, you learn the basics, but then are allowed to have some fun. You learn the basics of writing, and are then encouraged to write a story. You learn the basics of music, and then you can play songs with friends. For the most part, people’s experience with math isn’t the same. You’re forced to learn the basics, then…. nothing. It’s no wonder lots of people find it difficult to get enthusiastic about math. Parker sets out to remedy that by filling a book with ways to play with math. There are lots of neat tricks, jokes, and trivia, but he also tries to actually explain a lot of mathematical concepts. And he does it quite well. I won’t claim to have understood everything presented, but I’m willing to admit that has more to do with my having years of avoiding math like the plague than Parker’s explanatory abilities. Even when I didn’t quite grasp the specifics of what was being discussed, Parker was able to provide a higher level explanation so I could at least get the gist of the topic. He does this while remaining funny and engaging throughout. Good stuff.
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Anyone who has seen Matt Parker perform standup maths as I have (with the excellent Festival of the Spoken Nerd) will immediately recognise the style of this entertaining recreational-ish maths book: an easy, if slightly obsessive communication style, warm and friendly and with a slightly groan-making sense of humour.
I absolutely loved the title, although in a way it's a bit of a let down, as their are relatively few things to 'make and do' here - it is mostly straightforward recreational mathematics - though you certainly can't fault the promise of dealing with the fourth dimension, as well as the fifth, sixth and 196,883rd dimension (and that not one of the joky bits - this is genuinely significant).
Like most rec maths books, while it's clear that the author finds it all fascinating I found some captivating, some vaguely interesting and some a touch 'meh'. But as long as you accept that not all of it will work for you and you might have to skip a few bits and pieces, it has some absolute gems. From interesting ways to cut up pizzas via computers made with dominos and those many dimensional shapes to networks, variants of Möbius strips I've never seen before and an equation that plots as the equation itself there's truly mind boggling stuff. I particularly loved the bit about the secret checking mechanisms in barcodes and VAT numbers (but that's just me) and I'm sure you'll have your own favourites.
Perhaps the weakest parts of the book are the dips into mathematical history. Parker falls for the usual problem of over-egging what was done in 'programming' the non-existent Analytical Engine, and his quick whiz through some of the big names of maths towards the end of the book seems a little out of place with the rest. He acknowledges maths history is a 'bit like herding porridge', but I'm not sure this section adds a lot to the book.
It's interesting to compare TtMaitFD with the work of the hyper-productive Ian Stewart, probably our best known living maths populariser. Despite his light style, Parker took significant risks in going into more depth than Stewart often does in his rec maths books, and I think the gamble pays off, though it may bamboozle some readers. Parker certainly gives Stewart a run for his money and packs plenty in. Recreational maths doesn't work for everyone, but for the naturally geeky this book has a distinct appeal. -
Yes.
Good. -
that one took me a LONG time
but still, i stand by my opinion, i love Matt Parker
half the time i was „reading” this i was really reading crime and punishment, that’s why it took me roughly a month to finish this one (in reality it was ~2 weeks spent on the text)
but about the book
i am really really curious about what would a person who sits in maths 24/7 say about it
for me it was very interesting, providing knowledge in human language, not the maths language which certainly had made it easier to read and understand
i liked that there were so many things covered, some could have been covered more thoroughly BUT i think that this fact encourages to do further research. i know i will do further research
i also have ideas for my math IA for IB which i have not yet begun so thanks for that Matt!
as always, lovely to read
i recommend! -
“Sadly, very little school maths focuses on how to win free drinks in a pub.”
What a great book about math! Matt Parker knows how to teach you what mathematics is really all about (spoiler: not only about winning free drinks, but including that). He shows that it’s more than just your everyday calculating at the supermarket and your struggle with calculus in school. Math literally makes the world go round and it’s in your everyday life in ways you would have never expected. Parker knows his stuff and has a humorous way of passing his knowledge on.
I feel like you could read this no matter how much you know about math, although I recommend reading it in your first language if this is your first big encounter with the world of mathematics. I should mention, though, that I’m a third semester physics student, so I can only guess what reading this without knowing much about math is like. However, there were a lot of things that were new to me, too. I did not know anything about knot theory before reading this book, for example. Just give it a try, read the first few pages (I think they are available online) and see if it is for you. And if it is, be prepared to learn a lot about the math that is surrounding you in your everyday life!
To wrap this up I want to mention how much I liked the message of the subsequent chapter. There is no last chapter when it comes to math. You’re always learning, finding out new things, trying out stuff. That’s the true beauty of mathematics.
4/5 -
This was a most enjoyable recreational maths, perfect for my commute home.
Well-- almost. There's a lot of practical stuff to do with this book, and it's quite hard to attempt to fit a 2p coin through a hole the size of a 5p piece on the 1759 to Aylesbury Vale Parkway. And it's nearly impossible to find a mobius strip.
It's a great book - fun maths problems and surprising mathematical results, all simply explained and amusingly illustrated. It's choc-a-block with dreadful, dreadful jokes, maths and otherwise. -
Matt Parker is a person who has made his mum knit him a 4D pi hat. He's also a person who has managed to write a 450-page-long about maths in a way that invokes amusement in you instead of the typical thoughts of furious suicide. That said about 5% of this book is boring math stuff, the other 95% is well-explained math-y goodness and a person being capable of doing that with a math book, a math book for god's sake just leaves me in awe.
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Fun 4D Book
This was an exceptionally fun book.
I liked it a lot.
Although I enjoyed his other book
Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors a lot more, this was a great book with some fun examples and things to do - such as cool ways to cut pizza!
That being said, this was a truly unique and enjoyable read for anyone interested in mathematics. The book takes a lighthearted and engaging approach to exploring higher-dimensional concepts, making it accessible to readers with a wide range of mathematical backgrounds.
Matt Parker, a well-known mathematician and public speaker, brings his wit and humor to this book, making it both informative and entertaining. He presents complex mathematical concepts in a clear and concise manner, and provides readers with hands-on activities and examples that help illustrate and bring these concepts to life.
One of the standout features of the book is the author's ability to make mathematical concepts relatable and accessible to a general audience. Through his use of humor and practical examples, he shows how mathematical concepts can be applied to real-world situations and can be thought about in our daily lives.
Whether you are a seasoned mathematician or just someone who is curious about the subject, this is a must-read for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of mathematics and explore it in a new and exciting way.
The author's engaging writing style, combined with the unique and interactive approach to mathematical concepts, makes this book a standout in the field. Whether you are a student, mathematician, or simply someone who is interested in mathematics, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to explore the fascinating world of higher-dimensional mathematics.
I recommend listening to Northlane's song, 4D, when reading this book!
3.9/5 -
This nerdfest is one of the few books I'll advise you to read slowly (unlike yours truly) to a) avoid making your brain hurt and b) to actually have time to digest the ideas the author is presenting, as well as attempting (some of) the puzzles he gives you.
This is a book on grownup maths and, unsurprisingly, it's a lot of fun of you are the right kind of person. Similarly to sticking to the SF&F genres as your preferred literature type into the adulthood allows you to encounter some the best ideas and thought provoking stories in your books - as opposed to having to settle for no-picture books about the ails of the contemporary man - Matt Parker's book reveals that the slight tedium you had to suffer through during your school days was just a prep for being able to actually free your mind and go truly crazy. I know, having a degree in physics, I've heard about a lot of things discussed in the chapters, but definitely not all of it, and even the things I have I often got a chance to look at from a different perspective. Mathematics is huge and this books gives you a taster of what is possible and the vast areas we still have to explore.
Pick up this book alongside a lighter read (pretty much anything fits this category, even though the language in here is playful and informal) and prepare to have your mind blown all the way into almost 200000 dimensions! -
I'd recommend this book to anyone who already has a background in mathematics or someone who is intending to embark on a deep dive into the world of maths. Matt starts out with fundamental ideas and leads into some very technical concepts which unless you already have a solid foundation in are a bit difficult to grasp. I found some of the sections of the book more easily relatable than others. At times it was difficult to find motivation to want to continue reading, while at other times I was champing at the bit. Overall the style of writing is intriguing, thought provoking and an enjoyable read.
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This is an amazing book which made me love Maths again. It is really easy to read and made me think hard about Maths and the world around me. I have to admit that it hurt my brain occasionally but I loved reading every sentence.
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Awesome read. Tons of math concepts explained in a funny, entertaining, and clear way. I feel way smarter after reading this and it has further fueled my love for mathematics. Matt Parker writes like he's talking to you - like an extremely lovable math teacher. This book rekindled my interest in reading which I had lost for so long. I can't wait for his next book to be out in the states.
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Awesome. So fun! Anyone recreationally interested in math should read this. I knew of some things but learned so much and was really stimulated by this book.
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Great fun and learning experience. Some pages had to be read three times to even grasp them :) Lovely one, Matt.
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It’s fun to be able to pick up and experience a few little math puzzles and brain teasers for fun and not for a grade.
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Unfortunately, I bought this book because I was interested in the 4th dimension but only ~20% is actually about that. So I was disappointed.
It is a very well written book though and whoever is interested in a more fun way to approach math will find it here.
(I also learned a new way to tie my shoes which was one of the highlights of my month) -
A problem with a lot of popular maths book is they often cover the same ground, it must be required by law to mention Hilbert's Hotel. I enjoyed this book more for the parts that I haven't had as much exposure to, eg. the chapter on knots.
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Cute, actually deep, and very well expressed and illustrated
Here’s a definition of the fourth dimension from Google:
“1. a postulated spatial dimension additional to those determining length, area, and volume.
2. time regarded as analogous to linear dimensions.”
Mathematician and fun-loving guy Matt Parker is employing the first definition in this book. Since “postulated” is just a fancy word for something that may not exist I have to say that there is nothing to do in the fourth dimension. However Parker is undeterred. And if you are any kind of math person this book covers so much ground that you are bound to find something of interest even if you don’t care about the fourth dimension.
My interest as a non-mathematician is in infinity, prime numbers and randomness. (Not much in the book about the latter.) I also like the philosophy of mathematics and the burning question: is mathematics a universal language; that is universal enough to span the cosmos? I also like the question: does mathematics exist independent of minds?
Never mind. Math stand-up comedian Matt Parker is too practical a guy to worry about such esoterica.
Bottom line: although seemingly written for the general public this is really for math nerds and is so full of info and ideas that all but the most knowledgeable will learn something. I believe. To be honest more than a bit of this was over my head.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is” -
He made a dreadful discovery, something that should not exist. Nobody knows how he did it, but he horrified all his colleagues.
Everybody felt threatened by him and could not accept his ideas and presence anymore. What happened next? Were the gods so angry with him and tried to punish him or was he pushed overboard by his colleagues?
Sounds like a soap opera? It is simply the story of Hippasus, who is thought to be the first person to discover irrational numbers :)
Even numbers, odd numbers, prime numbers, perfect numbers, Fibonacci numbers, Lucas numbers, Mersenne numbers, narcissists numbers, transcendental numbers and only one (so far) Munchausen number.
Math is fun and worth learning!
