Meet JJ, an unusual character with a unique vantage position from which he can measure and monitor humanity's progress. Armed with a device that compels all around it to tell the truth, JJ offers a satirical evaluation of our attitudes to numeracy and logic, touching upon several aspects of life on Earth along the way, from the criminal justice system and people's use of language to highway driving and modern art.
Dude, Can You Count? Stories, Challenges, and Adventures in Mathematics by Christian Constanda is a collection of mathematically flavored stories and jokes, interlaced with puzzles, paradoxes and problems. The topics fuse together in an entertaining, free-flowing narrative that will engage and amuse anyone with an interest in the issues confronting society today. JJ demonstrates how a lack of elementary mathematical knowledge can taint our work and general thinking. He also reflects upon the importance of what is arguably our most valuable weapon against ignorance: a sound mathematical education.
Professor Christian Constanda (University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA and University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK) is the recipient of many awards for teaching excellence. He has served as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation in the areas of mathematical sciences and mathematics education. Constanda is the author of over 120 learned papers and the author, editor or translator of sixteen research books.
"Numbers, logic, human behavior and aliens: This unique book blends them all into a captivating narrative of serious talk and satire, where wit and scholarly details are counterpointed by instructive puzzles and mathematical fun. A 'must read' for anybody who appreciates humor and culture," said Dr. Stanislav Potapenko, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada.
Christian Constanda
Dude, Can You Count? Stories, Challenges and Adventures in Mathematics
2010, XIX, 294 p. 25 illus. Dustjacket. $27.50, EUR 27.95, £19.99
ISBN 978-1-84882-538-3