Mathematica

“Bessis makes the provocative claim that whether you realize it or not, you’re constantly doing math—and that you’re capable of expanding your mathematical abilities far beyond what you think possible.”—Quanta Magazine “One of the most wonderful things I’ve read in a very, very long time.”—Steven Strogatz, author of Infinite Powers “In this revealing book, David Bessis leads us on an earnest and personal journey into how to think mathematically: a process of exploration, making mistakes, and gradually correcting and improving one’s understanding.”—Terence Tao, 2006 Fields Medal laureate “Absolutely fantastic—a must‑read for anyone curious about what happens in our minds when we do mathematics.”—Hugo Duminil-Copin, 2022 Fields Medal laureate “This is a rare specimen: a mathematical self-improvement book. It’s full of playful, assertive, inventive coaching for becoming your best mathematical self.”—Ben Orlin, author of Math with Bad Drawings   “The inside story on how mathematicians think, how they choose their problems, how they avoid getting discouraged, and why common beliefs about mathematics are wrong. Brilliant, readable, and perceptive.”—Ian Stewart, author of What’s the Use? “This is an insightful, illuminating, and thought-provoking book, de-mystifying what it means and feels like to do mathematics.”—Eugenia Cheng, author of Is Math Real?, The Joy of Abstraction, and How to Bake Pi