Math for Everyone

Are you someone who couldn’t comprehend multiplication tables by the time friends had mastered them or never got beyond high school algebra? Ian Stewart, author of more than 80 books on popular mathematics, suggests a few written for the curious novice ("Ian Stewart's Top Ten Popular Mathematics Books," The Guardian, Jan. 18, 2012).

Magical Mathematics by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham

The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel

Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter

The Colossal Book of Mathematics by Martin Gardner

What Is Mathematics, Really? by Reuben Hersh