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    Take a Number: Mathematics for the Two Billion
    Take a Number: Mathematics for the Two Billion
    Take a Number: Mathematics for the Two Billion
    Ebook235 pages1 hour

    Take a Number: Mathematics for the Two Billion

    By Lillian R. Lieber and Hugh Gray Lieber

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    About this ebook

    Is mathematics a subject that everyone must study? You bet it is, and this playful guide shows why all of the people on this planet need to know something about math, and the more, the merrier! Mathematics is like a game and if you know the equipment and the rules, you can use it for both work and recreation. This illustrated book suggests practical and charming methods of studying and practicing math. From addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to algebra and geometry, the brisk, lighthearted approach offers fun-to-solve problems and complete answers.
    Author Lillian R. Lieber was head of the Department of Mathematics at Long Island University. In the 1940s, she wrote a series of good-humored, well-respected books about mathematics, including The Education of T. C. MITS (The Celebrated Man in the Street), a special edition of which was circulated among American GIs during World War II. Whimsical drawings by her husband, Hugh Gray Lieber, illustrate Take a Number and many of her other books.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateMay 24, 2017
    ISBN9780486822334
    Take a Number: Mathematics for the Two Billion

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      Book preview

      Take a Number - Lillian R. Lieber

      I. WHY SHOULD YOU STUDY MATHEMATICS?

      Most people probably grant nowadays

      that

      since we live in a

      scientific age,

      SOMEBODY has to study

      Mathematics,

      but is this subject necessary for

      EVERYONE?

      For all the two billion (2 X 10⁹) people

      on this earth?

      Why not let those who like it

      struggle with it,

      and let the rest of us

      study something else,

      or maybe just take it easy

      and enjoy life?

      We shall try to tell you WHY

      everyone, including you,

      must study some Mathematics—

      and the more the merrier!

      And,

      with this little book,

      perhaps you will even

      begin to like it—

      we hope!

      First of all,

      you will admit that

      everyone must know

      a little Arithmetic,

      so that he can at least

      count his pennies or his sheep

      or what have you,

      and carry on

      whatever little business

      he has to do.

      True, you will say,

      "but that is not much.

      How about Algebra, though,

      and Geometry and all that stuff?

      No doubt the scientists need it,

      but I am going to be

      a businessman, or

      a stenographer, or

      maybe a housewife,

      and I surely don’t expect

      to use Math.

      What I need is

      good looks,

      money,

      common sense—

      but not Math."

      Now you know perfectly well that

      many times

      people who are not so good-looking

      know how to use

      what looks they have

      to better advantage than

      some very handsome ones.

      And that people without money

      can go out and make a million

      if they have the ability and

      if that is what they want.

      In short,

      what we need most is

      a knowledge of

      the world we live in and

      the tools needed to

      get along in it.

      Now the most important tool is

      certainly your own brain,

      so that

      if you learn to use

      that instrument

      you will really have something!

      Furthermore,

      it is easy to see that

      EVERYONE must learn to

      use his bean,

      or else

      what one intelligent man or group

      builds up

      can be destroyed by the

      ape-men.

      So you see

      unless we

      ALL GET WISE TOGETHER,

      the world cannot be safe for anyone.

      Now, since man’s brain

      has been most successful in

      Science (including Physics et al),

      Art (including Music, Poetry, et al), and

      Mathematics,

      let us see if we can learn from

      THEM

      how to really use our brains

      And, to make it easier,

      let us combine them all into

      a single character called

      SAM—

      so that our problem is to help

      to bring SAM to the

      TWO BILLION,

      and show

      HOW

      he can help us.

      You will see that

      he can be a better

      LEADER

      than any individual human being!

      Now it must be very clearly understood

      that SAM, who is of course

      very scientific,

      is nevertheless

      NOT just a gadgeteer

      who furnishes us with

      radios and automobiles

      and other gadgets

      to play with,

      though he HAS his pockets full of

      toys for us—

      but he will give them to us

      ONLY if the human race is GOOD—

      otherwise he will give us

      ATOMIC BOMBS instead!

      For in his heart

      SAM is really in agreement with

      the great RELIGIONS

      and will FIGHT for them

      and not allow us to

      ignore them any longer!

      II. MATHEMATICS MADE EASY

      One of the main difficulties with

      the study of Mathematics

      by the average person

      has always been that

      he was never let in on

      the basic rules of the game,

      but was given

      THOUSANDS of little details

      to remember,

      which did not seem to have

      much connection with each other,

      so he could never

      figure things out for himself.

      Can you imagine playing any game

      without knowing

      the EQUIPMENT of the game or

      the RULES?

      But just being pushed around

      without ever finding out

      what you were doing,

      or

      the difference between

      a goal and a foul?!

      Now, in this little book,

      we shall try to show you that

      Mathematics is really like a game.

      And if you know

      the EQUIPMENT and the RULES

      (and you will be surprised to find

      how VERY FEW basic rules there are!),

      you can easily learn the game

      and even figure out your own

      plays.

      This not only makes it easy to play,

      but you will be surprised to find

      what FUN it is!

      Try it and see.

      III. THE EQUIPMENT

      First, take Arithmetic.

      The equipment of Arithmetic

      consists of

      various kinds of NUMBERS,

      which we shall recall to your mind

      in this chapter.

      And you can then easily go from

      Arithmetic to Algebra

      by merely

      ENLARGING this equipment

      to include a kind of numbers

      called NEGATIVE numbers,*

      which are very easy to understand,

      as you will see.

      Another change in going

      from Arithmetic to Algebra

      will be in the use of

      LETTERS to stand for numbers.

      You will see how

      this simple device

      will make it possible

      to solve problems more EASILY

      and more GENERALLY.

      Although you may not realize it,

      you already know, from Arithmetic,

      several different kinds of numbers :

      for example, as a very small child,

      you learned about

      the WHOLE NUMBERS or INTEGERS,

      like 1, 7, 11, 79, etc.

      Later on,

      you also learned about

      FRACTIONS,

      ,

      and decimal fractions,

      like 1.25, .06, 7.09,

      and mixed numbers,

      etc.

      Now, fortunately,

      it is not necessary to have

      so many different names,

      for all the numbers mentioned above

      are called

      RATIONAL NUMBERS.

      Let us give you a clear definition of

      a RATIONAL NUMBER:

      This is

      ANY NUMBER WHICH MAY BE EXPRESSED

      AS A RATIO* OF TWO INTEGERS:

      is

      a rational number since it is

      the ratio of

      the integer 7 to the integer 8.

      is

      ,

      which is the ratio of

      the integer 3 to the integer 2.

      Also, the decimal .06 is

      a rational number, since

      .

      And even an integer, like 7,

      ,

      which, again, is the ratio of

      the integer 7 to the integer 1,

      showing that the integers themselves

      are also rational numbers.

      Now we want to introduce you to

      a kind of number which

      you have never had in

      Arithmetic.

      These are the

      NEGATIVE NUMBERS mentioned on page 9.

      They are very easy to understand,

      especially with the help of

      the following line:

      On this line you see that

      all the numbers which

      you had in Arithmetic are

      the zero and the numbers to

      the RIGHT of the zero,

      including

      integers, fractions,

      decimal fractions, and mixed numbers,

      each having its definite place on the line.

      But you also see that we can put

      numbers to the LEFT of the zero,

      putting a MINUS sign in front of each

      to distinguish it from

      the numbers on the right,

      called the POSITIVE numbers.

      A positive number may be written

      with a plus sign, thus :

      + 2, +5

      or more briefly, without the plus sign :

      2, 5.

      But of course you must NEVER

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