Foreign Rights contact

This book is devoted to those who could not stand mathematics at school and to those who still find it irresistible but disappointing. The aim is to show that maths is, above all, a funny hobby, and that algebra, logic, geometry and other student “enemy subjects” are actually harmless. After a long experience as a recreative mathematician, Ghattas describes some classical subjects in an original way: a Moebius ring is a land where people meet and live in peace, snakes live on ring-shaped cakes, clocks tell the wrong time, and sincerity is a matter of figures. The author also answers weird questions like how long it takes for one’s hair to grow and reach the boundaries of the Solar System, and how to grow an orchard with rigour. Old curiosities will be satisfied and new ones will be solicited. Pages can be read at random or tasting every single combination. The appetite for mathematics will come with reading!

Seven menus to stimulate your appetite for numbers: Travels; Time; Kitchen & cooking; Paper; Games; Human body; Animals

Born in Canada and Italian by adoption since 1988, Robert Ghattas has a background in maths and is a science communicator in museums and science centres. He’s always been interested in maths didactics and is often the main attraction in science festivals all over Italy.