Table Of ContentTRAIN your BRAIN to be a
MATH
GENIUS
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First American edition, 2012
This book is full of puzzles and Published in the United States by
activities to boost your brain DK Publishing
375 Hudson Street
power. The activities are a lot of
New York, New York 10014
fun, but you should always check
with an adult before you do any
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley Limited
of them so that they know what
12 13 14 15 16 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
you’re doing and are sure
001—182438 —09/12
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TRAIN your BRAIN to be a
MATH
GENIUS
Written by Dr. Mike Goldsmith
Consultant Branka Surla
Illustrated by Seb Burnett
CONTENTS
6 A world of math
MATH BRAIN INVENTING NUMBERS MAGIC NUMBERS
10 Meet your brain 26 Learning to count 50 Seeing sequences
12 Math skills 28 Number systems 52 Pascal’s triangle
14 Learning math 30 Big zero 54 Magic squares
16 Brain vs. machine 32 Pythagoras 56 Missing numbers
18 Problems with numbers 34 Thinking outside the box 58 Karl Gauss
20 Women and math 36 Number patterns 60 Infinity
22 Seeing the solution 38 Calculation tips 62 Numbers with meaning
40 Archimedes 64 Number tricks
42 Math that measures 66 Puzzling primes
44 How big? How far?
46 The size of the problem
4
SHAPES AND SPACE A WORLD OF MATH
70 Triangles 94 Interesting times 120 Glossary
72 Shaping up 96 Mapping 122 Answers
74 Shape shifting 98 Isaac Newton 126 Index
76 Round and round 100 Probability 128 Credits
78 The third dimension 102 Displaying data
80 3-D shape puzzles 104 Logic puzzles and paradoxes
82 3-D fun 106 Breaking codes
84 Leonhard Euler 108 Codes and ciphers
86 Amazing mazes 110 Alan Turing
88 Optical illusions 112 Algebra
90 Impossible shapes 114 Brainteasers
116 Secrets of the Universe The book is full of
problems and puzzles for
118 The big quiz
you to solve. To check
the answers, turn to
pages 122–125.
5
There’s a height restriction
on this ride, sonny. Try
I´ll be in this line for
coming back next year.
10 minutes, so I should still
be in time to catch the next
I wonder what would
bus home.
happen if the ride spun
even faster?
People are hungry
tonight. At this rate, I’ll
run out of hot dogs in
half an hour.
m
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n
a
C
j Yo a
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m
ati
o
n.
It is impossible to imagine our world without
math. We use it, often without realizing, for a Panel puzzle
These shapes form a square panel, used
whole range of activities —when we tell time,
A in one of the carnival stalls. However, an
go shopping, catch a ball, or play a game. This extra shape has somehow been mixed
up with them. Can you figure out which
book is all about how to get your math brain
piece does not belong?
buzzing, with lots of things to do, many of the
B
big ideas explained, and stories about how the
E
great math brains have changed our world. F
C
D
6
Gulp! The slide looks
even steeper from the top.
I wonder what speed I’ll
be going when I get to
the bottom?
Look at me! I’m
floating in the air and
I’ve got two tongues!
One in four people are I think I’ve got the
hitting a coconut. Grr! I’m angle just right... one
making a loss. more go and I’ll win
a prize.
P
a
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Profit margin A game of chance
It costs $144 a day to run the Everyone loves to try to knock down
bumper cars, accounting for a coconut—but what are your chances
wages, electricity, transportation, of success? The stall owner needs to
and so on. There are 12 bumper know so he can make sure he’s got
cars, and, on average, 60 percent enough coconuts, and to work out how
of them are occupied each session. much to charge. He’s discovered that, on
The ride is open for eight hours a average, he has 90 customers a day, each
day, with four sessions an hour, throwing three balls, and the total number
and each driver pays $2 per of coconuts won is 30. So what is the
session. How much profit is likelihood of you winning a coconut?
the owner making?
7
Math
brain
