Washoe County Library System

Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, but when she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy was severely limiting her options post-graduation, she returned to college newly determined to retool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble. Here she lets us in on the secrets to effectively learning...

"Simon Singh, author of the bestsellers Fermat's Enigma, The Code Book, and The Big Bang, offers fascinating new insights into the celebrated television series The Simpsons: That the show drip-feeds morsels of number theory into the minds of its viewers--indeed, that there are so many mathematical references in the show, and in its sister program, Futurama, that they could form the basis of an entire university course. Recounting memorable episodes...

"A math-whiz from a trailer park discovers she's the only student capable of unravelling complex clues left by a serial killer who's systematically getting rid of her classmates"--

"Love and Math tells the two intertwined stories of mathematics and the adventure of one man in learning it. The result is a story about how he became one of the twenty-first century's leading mathematicians, working on one of the biggest ideas to come out of mathematics in the last 50 years: the Langlands Program. As Frenkel proves, a mathematical formula can be as elegant and beautiful as a painting, a poem, or a piece of music. And the process...

"The epic battle over a mathematical concept that shook the old order and shaped the world as we know it. On August 10, 1632, five leaders of the Society of Jesus convened in a somber Roman palazzo to pass judgment on a simple idea: that a continuous line is composed of distinct and limitlessly tiny parts. The doctrine would become the foundation of calculus, but on that fateful day the judges ruled that it was forbidden. With the stroke of a pen...

Members of the Critter Club are all excited about their summer plans until Liz learns that, instead of taking an art class, she will have to be in summer school to improve her math skills, but a fun teacher, a classroom pet, support from her friends, and advice from her brother might get her through.

Bearing a belly that is perfect for displaying pie charts, Charlie Piechart makes fractions fun by demonstrating what percentage of his friends enjoy different kinds of pizza toppings.

Tess has always loved math, and she uses mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life, so she is dismayed to find out how much math--and life--can change in eighth grade.