Coincidences, Chaos and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas

Starbird and Burger's text is an excellent overview of current issues in mathematics and statistics, with some interesting insight as to how mathematics is (1) a surprisingly large part of everyday life and (2) a very interesting exercise in understanding quite complex ideas.

While the book is a slow starter, and may appear a little simplistic initally, it soon grows into a very interesting read in a variety of subject areas.

Some personal favorite subjects covered are:
* Intuition versus reality - folding paper and fitting all humankind into a box
* Making sense of data - some great stats examples of why to be careful when interpreting infomation
* A great explanation of the fourth dimension

The books illustrations are a big bonus, with some in particular making the subject matter much easier to digest (e.g. cards on a table edge, the fourth dimension)

A great book for those who love mathematics, but are perhaps stronger conceptually than thay may be in the mechanics of the subject.