A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if You Flunked Algebra)

Whether you are a student struggling to fulfil a math or science requirement, or an established professional embarking on a career change that requires a higher level of math competency, A Mind for Numbers offers the necessary tools for getting a better grasp on this often intimidating but inescapable field.  Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, but when she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy was severely limiting her options post-graduation, she returned to college newly determined to retool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble.
 

In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to effectively learning math and science, based on insights from neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Many people think there's only one way to solve a problem, when in fact there are often a number of methods – you just need the creativity to see them. For example, there are more than three hundred different known proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem.

 

We all have what it takes to excel in math, and learning it is not as painful as some might think.

 

'If you struggled through math and slept through science, there's hope.  Polymath Barbara Oakley reveals how to unlock the analytic powers of our brains so we can learn how to learn.  This book should be required reading for students – and for my mother.'  - Adam Grant, professor of management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and New York Times – bestselling author of Give and Take

 

'A wonderful book!  How do you come to love math and science, and how do you come to learn math and science?  Read A Mind for Numbers.  Barbara Oakley is the magician who will help you do both.' Francisco  - J. Ayala, former President and Chairman of the Board, American Association for the Advancement of Science

 

'In my book The Math Instinct, I described how we have known since the early 1990s that all ordinary people can do mathematics, and in The Math Gene, I explained why the capacity for mathematical thinking is both a natural consequence of evolution and yet requires effort to unleash it.  What I did not do is show how to tap in to the innate ability. Professor Oakley does just that.'  - Keith Devlin, NPR Weekend Edition's 'Math Guy'