Mathematician and author Eugenia Cheng visits Google to discuss her book “Is Math Real?: How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics’ Deepest Truths.” The book aims to liberate math from its shackles to show how human curiosity, creativity, rule-breaking and seemingly silly questions can point us to some of mathematics’ most profound answers. Where do we learn math: From rules in a textbook? From logic and deduction? Not really, according to mathematician Eugenia Cheng: we learn it from human curiosity—most importantly, from asking questions. This may come as a surprise to those who think that math is about finding the one right answer, or those who were told that the “dumb” question they asked just proved they were bad at math. But Cheng shows why people who ask questions like “Why does 1 + 1 = 2?” are at the very heart of the search for mathematical truth. “Is Math Real?” is a much-needed repudiation of the rigid ways we’re taught to do math, and a celebration of the true, curious spirit of the discipline. Written with intelligence and passion, “Is Math Real?” brings us math as we’ve never seen it before, revealing how profound insights can emerge from seemingly unlikely sources.
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