Strange Curves, Counting Rabbits, and Other Mathematical Explorations by Keith Ball, Princeton University Press, £19.95/$29.95, ISBN 0691113211 Reviewed by Ben Longstaff
IT IS a dismal idea that you shouldn’t laugh at your own jokes. You tend to hear it from people who consider themselves particularly witty. Thank goodness mathematicians aren’t too smug to champion their subject’s high points, which are, like good puns, as much discoveries as inventions.
In Strange Curves, Counting Rabbits, and Other Mathematical Explorations, Keith Ball demonstrates that though maths may not be laugh-out-loud hilarious, it is deeply and gloriously satisfying. The book’s 10 chapters explore diverse…
