Math Trek

Math Trek: Adventures in the Math Zone

There s a new amusement park in town. Come on in and find out all the exciting ways you can have fun with math in everyday life. Wander through the fractal forest, take a ride on the Mobius-strip roller coaster, and get dizzy learning about how math makes the Tilt-A-Whirl possible. The more activities you try, the more you'll learn how cool it can be to see the world through the eyes of a mathematician.

Once you have sampled some of the interesting and unique projects in Math Trek, from untangling unknots to winning games with weird diceto figuring out secret codes, you ll see that every trip to the Math Zone is an exciting adventure!

Preface vii

1 Do Knot Enter 1

2 The MapZone 9

3 The Crazy Roller Coaster 19

5 Mersenne's Fun House 29

7 The Fractal Pond Race 39

11 Tilt-A-Whirl Madness 53

13 Luck on the Boredwalk 63

17 The Code-Locked Door 73

19 The Wild Game Hall 81

23 Way Out! 91

Answers 99

Glossary 107

Further Readings 109

Index 113

IVARS PETERSON is an award-winning mathematics writer known for his popular books The Jungles of Randomness, The Mathematical Tourist, and Islands of Truth. He also writes about mathematics for Science News and Muse magazines.

NANCY HENDERSON is a freelance writer and editor whose articles have appeared in New Scientist, Science and Children, U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Post, and many other publications.

Take the ride of your life in the MathZone!

There's a new amusement park in town. Come on in–and find out all the exciting ways you can have fun with math in everyday life. Wander through the fractal forest, take a ride on the Möbius-strip roller coaster, and get dizzy learning about how math makes the Tilt-A-Whirl possible. The more activities you try, the more you'll learn how cool it can be to see the world through the eyes of a mathematician.

Once you've sampled some of the interesting and unique projects in Math Trek, from untangling unknots to winning games with weird dice to figuring out secret codes, you'll see that every trip to the MathZone is an exciting adventure!