Book Review: A Mind for Numbers By Barbara Oakley

The subtitle of this books “How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if You Flunked Algebra).

It’s something of an odd thing. On the one hand science, except physics, was never really a huge challenge for me. In contrast, though, math and I have never really gotten along. Now, I can do math, at least basic stuff, and even a little bit of algebra, but when I try to go deeper I just get lost. I mean, I begged for the “D” I got in Algebra II in high school, remediated algebra in college (and did well) but still struggled in the “real” algebra class. And statistics … don’t get me started!

I ran across a video of comedian Fern Brady a few days ago. I thought her jokes and presentation were pretty good and went searching for more. One of the videos I ran across was her being interviewed by Richard Herring, on his Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. In the course of that interview I learned both that Fern is autistic and that she had written a book. This intrigued me so I had to track it down.

Tiny Experiments

In recent years I’ve grown increasingly convinced that hyper-focus on being productive and goal oriented is a prescription for a great deal of stress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction in life. So, when I ran across this book with the subtitle of “How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World” I had to stop to read it. And I’m glad I did.

The book aims to teach you 10 things (outlined on its webpage. What I took away from the book was to approach interests and ideas with a scientific perspective. That is, try something for a set amount of time or a set number of attempts (for example, “I will write 30 articles in 30 working days” ) rather than more nebulous goals (e.g. “I will write more”) or goals with no clear end date. Then, take a look at what you accomplished – or didn’t. That helps you to see more clearly whether you really are interested in pursuing that activity in the longer term.

Naked by Brian Hoffman

Overview

In the acknowledgements, author and scholar Brian Hoffman notes that the idea for this book grew out of his own early experiences in a clothing optional home/community. He noted that as he grew older he became increasingly aware that what was normal in his own life was not nearly so normal for most others, at least in the US. It was, he suggests, that dichotomy between his experiences and the broader social order that led him to explore the history and influences on nudist life. As he notes in the acknowledgement, he tried to avoid coming across as a dyed-in-the-wool nudist who was seeking to justify his lifestyle but rather wanted to present a fact-based perspective on a lifestyle that is different from mainstream society.

A Curious Mind

I am, and have always been, a curious person so when I saw this book at the book store I had no choice but to select it.

Curiosity is a driving force that pushes us to learn more, understand more, and to find or create new things. Curiosity is also the foundation for creativity, which is the premise for Brian Grazer’s book, “A Curious Mind”.

If the name sound familiar, but you can’t quite nail down his name, Brian is the producer of many hit movies, including Splash, Apollo 13, Friday Night Lights, and A Beautiful Life among many others. Brian credits his curiosity for both getting him into the movie industry and with his success within that industry. He points to how his curiosity, and what he calls “curiosity conversations”, has expanded his understanding of people and phenomena, allowed him to explore new ideas in unique ways, for developing a deeper understanding of others, and for providing him the foundation for identifying good ideas.