Welcome to Litsy!

Publisher's note: It's a Numberful World was published in Australia under the title Woo's Wonderful World of Maths. Why is a rainbow curved? Why aren’t left-handers extinct? How is a sunflower like a synchronized swimmer? What makes 2.718 a magic number? These may not look like math questions at first glance—but they are, because they all have to do with patterns. And mathematics, at heart, is the study of patterns—from familiar shapes and symmetries, to mysterious values like the golden ratio, which seem to crop up wherever you look for them. Looking for patterns changed Eddie Woo’s life—by turning the “dry” subject he had dreaded in high school into a boundless exploration suffused with joy. Today, he’s an award-winning math teacher, and now, he’s here to win you over, too. Here are 26 bite-size chapters on Woo’s favorite mathematical marvels—from the synchronized sine waves we hear as “music,” to the immense prime numbers (once a mere curiosity) that are now essential to data encryption. This book will change your mind about what math can be. We are all born mathematicians—and It’s a Numberful World!