1089 and All That - A Journey into Mathematics

What Hacker News says

1. pdiddyJun 2015
   I would highly recommend the book 1089 and All That. It won't teach you much math, but it is an excellent book to read while getting started. Measurement is also a good book that starts from scratch.
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2. pdiddyApr 2015
   Currently reading: The House of Life, Mario Praz; Spring and All (try to read it every spring)

   Recently finished: 1089 and All That (finished today), The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Gibson's The Peripheral

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3. jonpJul 2010
   One book I'd recommend is "1089 and all that" (http://www.amazon.com/1089-All-That-Journey-Mathematics/dp/0...).

   I've bought copies for friends and family whose maths backgrounds range from school to degree level and they've all enjoyed it.

   It's not a textbook, more a conversational account of a few topics the author has found interesting through his life from a young boy to an Oxford don. It's very readable and the author's delight in maths and problem solving shine through

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4. jonpFeb 2008
   "1089 and all that" by David Acheson is charming and very readable. It covers a variety of different types of maths but more importantly get across what maths is really about. I've bought it for friends and family with a wide range of maths backgrounds (graduate mathematicians to not-since-school-forty-years-ago).

   Also "Alice and Numberland", Baylis and Haggarty; and "The Foundations of Mathematics", Stewart and Tall. These are both pitched somewhere between high school and university level and bridge the gap well.

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