Reviews and recommendations

'50 amazing things kids need to know about mathematics'We don't normally review childrens' books on Plus, but when this colourful volume landed on our desk we couldn't resist. It appeared to do exactly what we try to do all the time: reveal the beauty and fun side of maths and show how it comes up everywhere, as a natural language in which to talk about the world. So we passed it on to two expert representatives of the book's target audience, which is 7 to 11-year olds.
'Crafting by Concepts'Have you ever wanted to explore the symmetries of the cube and octahedron through an old Japanese art form? Or to investigate fractals using tatting and string art? Or to study the helix by knitting bed socks? If so, or if you are at least open to the idea, then this book would be a good place to start.
'What's happening in the mathematical sciences?'Dana Mackenzie's book is a display of modern mathematical developments, which have brought about the solutions of several old and important questions in number theory, topology and the theory of dynamical systems. More recent areas, related to finance and computer science, have also witnessed a lot of attention-grabbing events — some good and some bad. For those with a mathematical background this book makes a fascinating read.
'Game theory and the humanities'This is a fascinating book on the application of game theory to situations in philosophy, politics, law, history, literature and even the Bible. The author shows that real insight can be obtained into optimal strategies for dealing with some famous dilemmas.
'The hidden mathematics of sport'Clearly and interestingly written, humorous and varied, requiring only a minimal familiarity with math, The hidden mathematics of sport is a pure pleasure to read. It contains an impressive array of mathematical topics, much broader and more unusual than standard findings about the statistics of sports or the equations governing the motion of projectiles.
'How to build a brain'It's quite refreshing to find a book on maths that is so upbeat and infectious as How to build a brain. Certainly the title is a misnomer; one would immediately associate it to artificial intelligence or biology, but in reality this book is about how mathematics finds its way into many aspects of our world.
'Perfect rigour'In 2006 the Fields Medal — one of the highest honours in mathematics — was awarded to Grigory Perelman for solving the Poincaré conjecture, a famously difficult problem that had stumped mathematicians for a century. To the surprise of many, and the excitement of the media, Perelman declined the award and withdrew not only from mathematics but from the world generally. In Perfect rigour Masha Gessen sheds some light on this brilliant and perplexing character and the reasons why he would renounce both the worldly rewards of his mathematical achievement and also his beloved vocation, mathematics itself.
'Loving and hating mathematics'

Loving and hating mathematics is an intriguing title, but it doesn't tell you what this book is about. More informative is the subtitle: Challenging the myths of mathematical life. The book is a collaboration between a mathematician, Reuben Hersh, and a psychologist in the fields of linguistics and education, Vera John-Steiner.

'The big questions: Mathematics'With twenty skillfully written essays Tony Crilly paints a broad-stroke picture of modern mathematics, focusing on some of the most exciting topics. This book is intended for people whose acquaintance with mathematics is limited to their high school years, but who want to know "what all this fuss is about". It is ideal for those who have heard that mathematicians talk about imaginary numbers and unbreakable codes, and want to know how much of it, if any, is true.
'Gems of geometry'When Gems of Geometry arrived through the post it seemed the Gods had conspired to despatch the perfect book for me to review. Like the author, John Barnes, I have a fascination with Edwin Abbot Abbot’s Flatland and spent many childhood hours gluing paper models of fantastical geometric constructions together.
'Natural computing'Computing is at the heart of our modern world, but what are its frontiers? This book presents new trends in this fast growing field. Although the topics covered range from spacecraft control to embedding intelligence in bacteria, they all coincide in one fundamental point: the future of computing is a synthesis with nature.
'Mathematics of life'Ian Stewart's latest book guides us through the recent collision of mathematics and biology. This is not a book about mathematics with a bit of biology sprinkled on afterwards – Mathematics of life weaves a history of biology with examples of how mathematics can help solve the unanswered questions that were created along the way. Mathematics, Stewart argues, will be the next biological revolution.