Math Girls

[PyTom]

I spent yesterday reading Math Girls, one of the strangest books I've ever read.

http://bentobooks.wpengine.com/math-girls/

The best way to put it is that it's a sort of BxG math book, or a light novel with a ton of math in it - the story alternates between the nameless male main character proving things about formulae with one of two girls, and him getting googly eyed over the girls.

The girls start off as rivals, but kind of join together by the end over the math.

I've been having trouble deciding if the (very modest!) romance aspects are being played straight, or if this is an incredibly subtle parody of the light novel format.

One thing I find interesting is that most reviews of this book seem to start with the mistaken assumption that it's a book aimed at girls - and it isn't. While I don't think that Math Girls does anything to scare anyone who wants to read it away, it seems to me to be aimed at a male audience - probably one that wishes to hold the counterfactual belief that being good at STEM will make them attractive to the opposite sex.

Or maybe I'm projecting.

It's actually some fairly serious math, although it's a gentle introduction to it. (Some of the math is very distantly related to what I did in my Ph.D. forum spam.) As a CS guy, I tend to consider computational solutions adequate, and hence some of the solutions given seemed needlessly complex - but that's just me.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw this out there, in case anyone is interested in Math Girls

[Victoria Jennings]

Reminds me of the various manga guides that exist. My sister has statistics and I have molecular biology. ; w ; b

[PyTom]

Reminds me of the various manga guides that exist. My sister has statistics and I have molecular biology. ; w ; b

Although the manga version of Math Girls isn't out yet - it's a lot more in depth than any manga guide I've read. The best way to put it is that it's a deep dive into a few very specific problems, where the manga guides tend to do shallow but broad coverage of a field.

[Sapphi]

OMG. The premise alone makes me want to read it.

So is it more of a story, or more of a guided lesson book? Because I don't mind learning, but I want story...

While I don't think that Math Girls does anything to scare anyone who wants to read it away, it seems to me to be aimed at a male audience - probably one that wishes to hold the counterfactual belief that being good at STEM will make them attractive to the opposite sex.

Counterfactual?!

[Minnfae]

These educational novels are -hard- to get right.

It's a bit of a coincidence to see this post, I was considering adding some math to my big VN project considering about half of the characters are mathematicians or very interested in mathematics, which makes sense in the story, but actually discussing math during a cutesy fantasy game would probably seem more like Big Lipped Alligator moments

[PyTom]

So is it more of a story, or more of a guided lesson book? Because I don't mind learning, but I want story...

I'd say about 80% math, 20% story. But the two are intermixed fairly well, such that the math is told in a story-like way.

You can read the first two chapters, although they're not very representative, since those to chapters cover relatively simple math, and also introduce the two heroines.

Counterfactual?!

Me editorializing a bit.

[Sapphi]

You can read the first two chapters, although they're not very representative, since those to chapters cover relatively simple math, and also introduce the two heroines.

"I wish my teachers taught me as well as you do," Tetra said.

I wish so too... ;_;
I never had math explained to me in such a casual and friendly way... and never had a math teacher I felt comfortable talking to. I'm sad now because math was always such a lonely and solitary world. Maybe if I read this book, I will actually remember something instead of doing the homework, getting it right on the test, and then completely forgetting it. I just got an A in my statistics class last semester. I understood practically everything, but I recently saw a selection in a book that mentioned something I recognized from the class and I realized I didn't remember what it meant...

Counterfactual?!

Me editorializing a bit.

I was going to say... XD

[LateWhiteRabbit]

It's actually some fairly serious math, although it's a gentle introduction to it. (Some of the math is very distantly related to what I did in my Ph.D. forum spam.) As a CS guy, I tend to consider computational solutions adequate, and hence some of the solutions given seemed needlessly complex - but that's just me.

This is where it becomes obvious to me that I am truly on the artistic side of things - math has never come easy for me. I've taken several levels of calculus, trig, statistics, etc. but it's like pulling teeth. My brain just doesn't want to work that way. I struggle with programming as a result because I'm more intuitive than logical. I always see the answer and can't break down the steps between here and there without great difficulty.

I've had several math teachers and one programming teacher that thought I was being difficult, stubborn, or screwing with them, when I could quickly grab answers from the air and then be completely unable to explain how. Honestly, the Math Girls book sounds terrifying to me.

[TrickWithAKnife]

An educational novel? Colour me there!

EDIT: Wow, it's definitely only for people with an interest in mathematics.
I guess I was curious about how it would be handled, as I realised there were a lot of people who aren't so interested in the educational part that played the demo of my educational game.

I think if you are strongly interested in mathematics, this would be absolutely wonderful.