Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Boy Who Loved Math




Paul Erdos, the subject of the picture book biography, The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman may be unknown to many readers but  they might be interested to know that he was a mathematician  who's mother didn't  make him go to school, who took such good care of him that she even cut up his meat and buttered his bread for him. He did have to put up with Fraulein, the woman who took care of him when his mother was at work.

Paul developed a special interest in prime numbers, which this book defines: "Prime numbers are special.
They can't be divided evenly. A prime number can be divided only by itself and 1."

He eventually did go to school and then traveled to England to work with other mathematicians. He still didn't know how to butter his bread but learned how when he went out to dinner with other mathematicians.

As years went on, he found his way of living: as a house guest of the mathematician he was working with at the time. The mathematician's family would do things for Paul, like his mother had done: laundry, cooking, etc.

This  is an interesting book  about a fascinating man with math thrown in too.



3 comments:

  1. Thanks, just put the book on hold.

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  2. I enjoyed your review -- I've been looking forward to reading this one!

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  3. I love when books have working moms! This sounds great, thank you.

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