The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure Library Binding Author: Visit Amazon's Hans Magnus Enzensberger Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1435266129 | Format: PDF
The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure Library Binding Description
Amazon.com Review
Young Robert's dreams have taken a decided turn for the weird. Instead of falling down holes and such, he's visiting a bizarre magical land of number tricks with the number devil as his host. Starting at one and adding zero and all the rest of the numbers, Robert and the number devil use giant furry calculators, piles of coconuts, and endlessly scrolling paper to introduce basic concepts of numeracy, from interesting number sequences to exponents to matrices. Author Hans Magnus Enzensberger's dry humor and sense of wonder will keep you and your kids entranced while you learn (shhh!) mathematical principles. Who could resist the little red guy who calls prime numbers "prima donnas," irrational numbers "unreasonable," and roots "rutabagas"? Not that the number devil is without his devilish qualities. He loses his temper when Robert looks for the easy way out of a number puzzle or dismisses math as boring and useless. "What do you expect?" he asks. "I'm the number devil, not Santa Claus." (Ages 10 to adult)
--Therese Littleton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Exceptionally handsome four-color illustrations and vignettes deepen the magic of this mathematically minded fantasy, Enzensberger's (Europe, Europe) first book for children. Robert is plagued by bad dreams until a mysterious creature called the Number Devil appears to him one night. Robert, who hates everything to do with numbers, thinks it just another nightmare, but, surprisingly, finds himself fascinated by the intricacies of mathematics as taught by the exacting but always enthusiastic Devil. In a series of 12 dreams, Robert (and the reader) are introduced to ever more complex theories, from different kinds of infinity to triangular numbers. In Number Hell/Number Heaven, Robert and the Devil meet famous mathematicians of the past and Robert is inducted into the ranks of number apprentices. Surreal touches (numbers flying in the air, floating in a swimming pool), fanciful names for mathematical terms (prima-donna numbers for prime numbers) and problems posed directly to the reader contribute to the playful tone. The generous and strategic use of color, however, provides the biggest boost: even mathematical equations look festive here, hand-printed in warm muted tones. Berner's witty spot and full-page illustrations also work to clarify mathematical principles. Many readers, unused to a novel of ideas, may well be daunted by the string of mathematical concepts, particularly because the reasoning behind several of the "tricks" demonstrated by the Devil is only glancingly addressed. But for certain kinds of readers?chess players, puzzle enthusiasts?this will be a favorite. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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- Library Binding: 262 pages
- Publisher: Paw Prints 2008-04-25 (April 25, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1435266129
- ISBN-13: 978-1435266124
- Product Dimensions: 1 x 6 x 9.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Crossing the story Alice in Wonderland with a small, red, fiery-tempered devil with a passion for numbers gives you The Number Devil, a perfect tale with funny and curious characters.
Robert hates math, and he gets irritated because his math teacher doesn't allow calculators in class. In addition to that, he has peculiar dreams all the time. Then, one night, completely out of the blue, he dreams about a Number Devil, who takes him away to a fantastic world of numbers. Robert learns all about different mathematical ideas and concepts in a fun way. Over the course of 12 different nights, Robert learns about simple math ideas like factorials, fractions, the importance of zero, and the idea of infinity. But Robert's adventures don't stop there; Robert also learns about more complex things like triangle numbers, Fibonacci numbers, imaginary numbers, and irrational numbers. The Number Devil makes up funny terms in order to explain these to Robert. Square roots are called "rutabagas," prime numbers are "prima donnas," squaring becomes "number hopping," the Fibonacci sequence is called "the Bonacci numbers, " and factorials are named "vrooms."
Did you know that you can take any even number larger than two and find two prime numbers that add up to it? The Number Devil presents different mathematical ideas to Robert, using funny things like furry calculators and coconuts. Even Robert uses what he learns in his dreams in class. For example, the Number Devil uses coconuts to show Robert what triangular numbers are. He uses the coconuts to make triangles on the ground, and he comes up with the first ten triangular numbers: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, and 55. Next, he comes up with a little rule for triangular numbers: Any number greater than 1 can be the sum of two or three triangle numbers.
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