Figuring It Out: Entertaining Encounters with Everyday Math - Tapa dura

From the reviews:

“All people, including professional mathematicians, should read some of the popular works of mathematics. Taking that as a given, this book should be a bestseller within mathematical circles. It contains a set of short essays about mathematics as it is used in the lives of all people. Generally 3–4 pages in length, the essays are easily understood and will either initiate the lay reader into some of the valuable ways mathematics is used or remind professionals just how valuable their field is to society.” (Charles Ashbacher, MAA Reviews, November, 2010)

“Crato’s presentation is to examine how problems, some challenging and of great importance and some of minor consequence yet thought provoking, have been resolved over the centuries. ... Impressively, the essays never get bogged down with complicated mathematical formulae, yet they still provide sufficient detail of the human endeavor and mathematical underpinnings involved, allowing the book to be of interest to both the layperson and the advanced expert. Overall, the stories are amusing, intriguing, insightful, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.” (N. W. Schillow, Choice, Vol. 48 (9), May, 2011)

“The present book is about the power and beauty of mathematics. ... Nuno Crato ... explains things in a way that everybody can follow. Therefore, the book is also directed at school pupils and can inspire teachers. ... You can learn interesting details about the life and the research of famous astronomers, mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists ... . It is a wonderful book that can help to popularize mathematics and can demonstrate the importance of mathematics in our everyday life.” (Werner H. Schmidt, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1219, 2011)

This is a book of mathematical stories - funny and puzzling mathematical stories. They tell of villains who try to steal secrets, heroes who encode their messages, and mathematicians who spend years on end searching for the best way to pile oranges.

There are also stories about highway confusions occurring when the rules of Cartesian geometry are ignored, small-change errors due to ignorance of ancient paradoxes, and mistakes in calendars arising from poor numerical approximations.

This book is about the power and beauty of mathematics. It shows mathematics in action, explained in a way that everybody can understand. It is a book for enticing youngsters and inspiring teachers.

Nuno Crato is a leading science writer and mathematician, whose entertaining essays have won a number of international awards.