Mastering Numbers: Everyday Mathematics Made Simple

We all use numbers every day, yet many people are uncomfortable with them, finding them daunting and difficult. Others treat numbers as a practical tool they can handle quite well, while failing to appreciate their most amazing qualities.

This book is the antidote to number-phobia. As with learning to swim, youʼ
ll never look back: these are skills youʼ
ll use for the rest of your life. If you think youʼ
re good with numbers already, youʼ
ll soon discover what youʼ
ve been missing: the endless fascination and beauty of numbers, and - at the more practical level - a whole range of techniques and shortcuts you never knew existed.
Mastering Numbers brings the subject to life, replacing the atmosphere of the classroom with the wonder of the magicianʼ
s workshop. In learning to enjoy numbers, we discover a multitude of practical skills - everything from understanding statistics and the odds gamblers face to the interest rates on savings and ways to maximise your returns. Never again need you flounder in a business meeting or an encounter with your bank manager - and if the chance arises to chat to him more casually, you could impress with stories about pi, prime numbers, Fermatʼ
s theorem, and much else besides.

Full of enjoyable exercises, puzzles, demonstrations and self-testing interludes, this is a book to instruct and give pleasure.