Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics' Deepest Truths

One of the world’s most creative mathematicians offers a “brilliant” and “mesmerizing” (Popular Science) new way to look at math—focusing on questions, not answers      Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a New Scientist Best Book of the Year     Where do we learn math: From rules in a textbook? From logic and deduction? Not really, according to mathematician Eugenia Chen we learn it from human curiosity—most importantly, from asking questions. This may come as a surprise to those who think that math is about finding the one right answer, or those who were told that the “dumb” question they asked just proved they were bad at math. But Cheng shows why people who ask questions like “Why does 1 + 1 = 2?” are at the very heart of the search for mathematical truth.     Is Math Real? is a much-needed repudiation of the rigid ways we’re taught to do math, and a celebration of the true, curious spirit of the discipline. Written with intelligence and passion, Is Math Real? brings us math as we’ve never seen it before, revealing how profound insights can emerge from seemingly unlikely sources.