The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger (PDF)

Description

The international best-seller that makes mathematics a thrilling explorationIn twelve dreams, Robert, a boy who hates math, meets a Number Devil, who leads him to discover the amazing world of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that magically appear in triangles, and numbers that expand without . As we dream with him, we are taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone-from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads-winds up marveling at what numbers can do.Hans Magnus Enzensberger is a true polymath, the kind of superb intellectual who loves thinking and marshals all of his charm and wit to share his passions with the world. In The Number Devil, he brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach it to them.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The Number Devil represents one of the many ways teachers like myself can bring literature into a Mathematics classroom. Pitting the protagonist, Robert, against an “evil” devil representing the toils of Math homework/classwork, the book softens the edges of your traditional Math lecture. This idea of turning Math into an enjoyable, quirky story can have a huge impact on its target audience, Math students of late elementary to middle school classrooms. Robert’s attitude immediately forges a connection with students. They (and I) can see Robert’s reluctance to cooperate with this Devil (at first) in their own personalities, trudging through every day Math ideas. The real beauty of this book is it’s ability to spark enthusiasm and motivation toward learning new ideas. My students can read along the brief chapters, watching Robert’s resentment of the Number Devil slowly dissipate, and about midway through, Robert grows eager to complete the Devil’s many Mathematical challenges. The ideas presented in the book can easily be transferred into activities for young classes to actively experience Mathematical phenomena for themselves! From the chapter explaining that the number 1 is the basis of every number we can imagine, I’ve designed a fun activity where my students made mobiles with the number 1 at the top, branching off into each type of number they can imagine (fractions, decimals, tens, hundreds, etc.). I’ve also recently had my classes create an alphabetical dictionary of the ideas they see pop up in this book. The book takes traditional definitions and manipulates them to a form suitable for kids’ enjoyment. This can lead to unbelievable increases in your students’ retention of ideas, as they think back to Robert and the Devil, rather than “What did Mr. Price write on the board that day?”. To touch on the book’s presentation and functionality, the book is an easy read, with colorful illustrations to disguise the “boring” Math our students may be expecting. The chapters are short and to the point, each introducing a new idea for both Robert and my students to “warm up to”, through playful interactions. I will note some dislikes of mine, primarily stating that the book contains an unfair difficulty spike. It is important to note that when transferring Math into this storybook form, we are far away from a linear textbook, and this uneven learning curve should be expected. Through the course of the book, a class who benefits from the early chapters (counting, infinity, fractions, etc.) may not have a grasp on the later chapters (square roots, geometries, etc.). Likewise, a class who benefits from the deeper final chapters may snooze all the way through the first half of the book. This is a minor complaint, as again, the book is obviously not a replacement for any single grade’s curriculum. The book is meant to compliment and “shake up” your coursework to give students more enjoyment toward the subject. It does just that. Harder ideas can simply spark interest in younger readers, while older readers can reflect on what they’ve already learned and see these ideas in a new lens. In a perfect world this book can be used for nothing else other than motivation, as you may see your students’ attitudes transform much like their new identifiable main character Robert’s does. Pick up a copy if you’re looking for some new ideas for your 4th – 8th graders this school year, don’t let your students begin to stigmatize the typical Math classroom at such young ages!

⭐Hans Magnus Enzensberger’s The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure takes 12 year old main character Robert through a series of 12 dreams with a number devil, opening Robert’s eyes to the wonders of math and numbers. Robert is not a fan of math, but he begins to dream about a mysterious, confident, and eccentric number devil who teaches him about many of the fascinating types of numbers and their properties. Although hesitant at first, Robert accepts that these informative dreams are better than his usual nightmares. Throughout the book, Robert becomes increasingly interested in these numbers and cannot wait to dream at night and learn from the number devil.Enzensberger accurately illustrates the feelings that many young students possess about math. Children often do not understand the importance of math in our world. They become overwhelmed with increasingly complex numbers, causing confusion and discouraging them from pursuing more math. This book combats these attitudes and shows readers how exciting numbers can be, from Fibonacci numbers to primes, irrationals, transcendentals, Pascal’s Triangle, and more. Robert is a very relatable character, someone who makes comments that almost all of us have made about math at some point in our educational experience. Despite not always being the easiest to get along with, the number devil represents the importance of having someone to inspire students and challenge them with interesting problems.As a student of math myself, I did not enjoy the number devil using different words to describe familiar mathematical concepts. Prime numbers are referred to as prima donnas, square roots as rutabagas, factorials as vrooms, and so on. In addition, the book misses a key opportunity to teach students about some of the greatest mathematicians the world has ever seen, such as Gauss, Bernoulli, Euler, Archimedes, Cantor, and Fibonacci. Instead, Enzensberger describes these pioneers in strange ways with different silly names, perhaps in an attempt to oversimplify the book. With that being said, a wide variety of mathematical topics are explored throughout the book, making it a fantastic choice for any age range. It is simple enough to be understood by the youngest readers, but still covers material that many college graduates may not even be familiar with. The book can either be used as a teaching tool, or as an outside read with the ability to display various applications of math. In my opinion, it works perfectly as the latter. With vibrant, colorful illustrations of number gardens, Fibonacci rabbits, never-ending numbers, Pascal’s Triangle, and Plantonic solids to help explain some of the more difficult topics, The Number Devil is sure to keep readers engaged.I would highly recommend this book to parents or teachers that want to get their kids reading mathematical literature and interested in the marvelous world of numbers, although it is a fun, quick, and easy read for all. Probably ideal for young teenagers, but it can be just as enjoyable for adults with any level of prior math knowledge. The Number Devil excels as at being a fun fiction read, while also having the potential to teach and be a strong educational tool.

⭐I bought this book based on a recommendation from a math forum. I noticed many reviewers were mentioning how they bought it for young children and thought it would be appropriate for elementary school kids only. I was pleasantly suprised! There are many rich mathematical ideas that can be taken to any level of depth. These topics could easily be talked about in middle school and high school. I’m using it for middle school summer math camp and we will dig into each topic as a number talk. I think it is accessible for multiple levels of students.

⭐Bought for a six year old, as bedtime reading. Three years later, he still re-reads it several times a year and takes it everywhere. It has inspired a love of mathematics in him, and he has become quite the young recreational mathematician.The renamed concepts and words made it easier for him to digest the story first as a work of fiction then, as he re-read it, as an introduction to the fun bits in maths. Wish there were more books like this.

⭐This book is amazing for kids who have a real natural interest in maths and want to consolidate their number understanding.I’m a primary teacher and bought this for my library and most of the kids love the storyline and have enjoyed learning through it, and have asked lots of brilliant questions to further their understanding!

⭐Nicely written story but only one example, so not really useful for anyone struggling

⭐It was for my Grandson who is a bit of a maths wizard. A book full of very useful information that I wish I had when I was at school.

⭐This is very engaging book. My 8 year enjoys reading it. The author has done a good job of bringing various mathematical concepts together in an easily understood and memorable manner for the younger reader.

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