Volume
20
Issue
1-3
Abstract
From cover to cover, Ben Orlin’s Math with Bad Drawings is modest. By this we do not mean to suggest that the book underwhelms in its contributions to the popularization of mathematics. In fact, we take the exact opposite as true, and the commendations from prominent popularizers of mathematics such as Steven Strogatz, Hannah Fry, and John Urschel that are printed on the book jacket provide us ample evidence. By modest we mean the book cloaks its potent insights on mathematics and mathematics education in self-effacement. Of course, this modesty is entirely intentional, and employed by Orlin with pinpoint precision. As a result of his winsome trope, which developed from its early days on his blog, he manages to take a subject ignored by a large subsection of the population and unfurl it through his unique mixture of self-proclaimed “bad” drawings, quippy narrative, and acute insight into the intersections of mathematics, mathematics teaching, and society.
First Page
234
Last Page
240
Recommended Citation
Banting, Nat; Banow, Ryan; and Chernoff, Egan
(2023)
"Popularizing Mathematics Education Through Bad Drawings A Review of Ben Orlin’s Math with Bad Drawings,"
The Mathematics Enthusiast: Vol. 20
:
No.
1
, Article 27.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54870/1551-3440.1609
Available at:
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme/vol20/iss1/27
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.54870/1551-3440.1609
Publisher
University of Montana, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
