Name: How to Bake Pi
ISBN: 9780465051717

Eugenia Cheng

An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics

How to Bake Pi

Möbius bagels, Euclid's flourless chocolate cake and apple pi - this is maths, but not as you know it. In How to Bake Pi, mathematical crusader and star baker Eugenia Cheng has rustled up a batch of delicious culinary insights into everything from simple numeracy to category theory ('the mathematics of mathematics'), via Fermat, Poincaré and Riemann. Maths is much more than simultaneous equations and pr2 : it is an incredibly powerful tool for thinking about the world around us. And once you learn how to think mathematically, you'll never think about anything - cakes, custard, bagels or doughnuts; not to mention fruit crumble, kitchen clutter and Yorkshire puddings - the same way again. Stuffed with moreish puzzles and topped with a generous dusting of wit and charm, How to Bake Pi is a foolproof recipe for a mathematical feast. *Previously published under the title Cakes, Custard & Category Theory*

Easy recipes for understanding complex maths

Chris Aldrich

While most of the book is material I've known for a long time, it's very well structured and presented in a clean and clear manner. Though a small portion is about category theory and gives some of the "flavor" of the subject, the majority is about how abstract mathematics works in general. 

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to have a clear picture of what mathematics really is or how it should be properly thought about and practiced (hint: it's not the pablum you memorized in high school or even in calculus or linear algebra). Many books talk about the beauty of math, while this one actually makes steps towards actually showing the reader how to appreciate that beauty.

Like many popular books about math, this one actually has very little that goes beyond the 5th grade level, but in examples that are very helpfully illuminating given their elementary nature. The extended food metaphors and recipes throughout the book fit in wonderfully with the abstract nature of math - perhaps this is why I love cooking so much myself.

I wish I'd read this book in high school to have a better picture of the forest of mathematics.

More thoughts to come...

Jeni Enjaian

I have no idea why I first put this book on my to read list. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Admittedly, a lot of the math went over my head. Granted, I understood some but definitely not all. If I had read a little slower and if the equations Cheng included had appeared in larger font (a fault of the Kindle display, not the author) I likely would have understood even more.

How to Bake Pi An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics

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