The Charlotte Austin Review Ltd.
-
Non fiction -
charlotteaustinreview.com
Home
Get Reviewed
Editor's Office
Editors
Reviewers
Interviews
Columns
Resources
Short fiction
Your letters
Editor
Charlotte Austin
Webmaster Rob Java
Review
The Number Devil
The Number Devil:
A Mathematical Adventure by
Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Metropolitan Books
264 pages, 1998
ISBN 0805057706
Reviewed by John A. Broussard, PhD


Once in a rare while, a book crosses my desk leaving me feeling that it deserves the widest possible circulation. The Number Devil is that once in a while book.

First: It's a family book. While aimed at a young audience, readers of any age from the precocious 6-year old on up can appreciate it.

Second: This is a book that lends itself to group reading, group discussion and group enjoyment. In fact, it's the ideal book to take along on that long trip with a child who has even a modicum of curiosity about the world of numbers.

Third: It was written specifically for those of us who either fear or hate mathematics, but will still endear itself to those who find the subject fascinating.

Fourth: While the text alone is worth the price of the book, the illustrations are the frosting on the cake. Superb! Unlike many illustrations which distract, these charming ones add to the text, help the reader over the rare rough spots, and just generally make all those numbers come to life.

The theme of the book is the twelve-year-old who is suffering through a math class. He dreams of a number devil that unravels the magic of numbers for him, using everything from rabbits to chewing gum.

Enzensberger occasionally slips when he tries too hard to tie numbers to things (e.g., you can infinitely divide a number, but you can't infinitely divide a substance, not even chewing gum.) But such glitches are really nothing more than warts on a mountain side. Buy this book. Read this book. If you have a child who dislikes math, roam with her/him though the magic land of the number devil. Highly recommended.


© 2000 The Charlotte Austin Review Ltd., for Web site content and design, and/or writers, reviewers and artists where/as indicated.