Welcome!

Thinking Mathematics is an uncluttered and joyous approach to school mathematics … middle school, high school and beyond! This site is based on, and extends further, the material that appears in the book series THINKING MATHEMATICS! Experience joyous, accessible, true mathematics.

On this site you will find …

  • Curriculum Tidbits: Written essays - and VIDEO ESSAYS!! - for teachers and students on typical highschool topics. Learn the joyous way to think about them!
  • Cool Mathematics: Essays on unusual topics to surprise and curious visual puzzles to delight.
  • Think Mathematics!: A course on how to think like a mathematician! It’s for students and for teachers.
  • Books: Materials to obtain for your very own.

This website is new and growing. More and more material appears regularly. Enjoy!

NEW! The 2010/2011 MATH WITHOUT WORDS calendar is available. It’s bright and colourful and cheery and very mathy! Each month offers a big and bold wordless puzzle to enjoy. Here is the September 2010 page and the March 2011 page for your preview. This is how you order the calendar. And, when you are ready (no peaking!), here are the 2010/2011 Calendar Solutions and Comments. Great for a BEDROOM WALL if you are a student and great for a CLASSROOM WALL if you are a teacher!

AND BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND … THE “MATH WITHOUT WORDS” BOOK
Seventy-five wordless puzzles (and brief solutions!) in book form for just $27.50. Order here.

AND THERE’S MORE!! Just completed is an updated version of VOLUME 6: SOME CALCULUS (AB High School/Basic First Semester College) and a newly written VOLUME 7: SOME MORE CALCULUS (BC High School/Basic Second Semester College) . These volumes give an accessible and honest approach to calculus and cover absolutely everything standardised test-makers want students to do. (And I tell you in these volumes when these things are just plain silly and/or philosophically incomplete! These books are indeed honest!) Order here.

AND TEACHERS! Looking for a State Licensure Exam Preparation Guide? Here is Tanton’s Take on how to pass a middle-school or high-school mathematics licensure exam from the Department of Education. (STUDENTS: Interested in learning what the government thinks teachers need to know in order teach mathematics?)

Featured essay:   Here are two essays!

The first, on Pick’s theorem, is an extended version of a research article that appeared in Feb/March 2010 issue of FOCUS! It represents the work young middle- and high-schoolers can joyously conduct on a research level.
Pick’s Theorem - and beyond!

This second piece is certainly accessible and fun.
Weird Multiplication