This delightful little volume is a mystery tour through some of the highlights of mathematics both classical and contemporary. The small hardback volume a format which has become popular for recreational mathematics and science books opens with a chapter on Acheson’s personal relationship with “the 1089 trick”. The book continues with geometry and the obligatory graphical proof of Pythagoras’ Theorem. Calculus graph theory the constants e and pi through to modern applications all squeeze into subsequent chapters. In addition to explanations of mathematical results themselves the book also presents motivations for topics such as algebra and proof. The book closes with a chapter on the inverted linked pendulum which Acheson has researched and a finally a rationale for the imaginary numbers.
