Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Building Math



Perritano, John. Building Math. Marshall Cavendish Benchmark: 2009. ISBN: 9780761432104.

Many students often ask the question “When are we ever going to need this?” when learning about math. In this book, Building Math, Perritano explores the need to understand math to build many of the structures our young adults have either learned about in the daily grind of school or recognized in the often exciting and fantastic movies of today. Ranging from ancient structures to skyscrapers and bridges to water wonders, photographs and illustrations of each structure take the reader on a global tour where math and buildings go hand in hand. The author is articulate and shows his knowledge of mathematical vocabulary by seemingly integrating each word into his descriptions of the variety of buildings and structures. Accompanying many of the descriptions of each structure is a small hands-on mini-lab intended to help the reader further understand the math that is often times misunderstood or even uninteresting. Also located in this book is a glossary to define terms and an index to help the reader find topics quickly. This book provides the real-life connections that young adults often need to appreciate what they are learning in school.


Laura Guadiz, Bowling Green State University, EDTL 6950

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