About Jim Stein

NBN Episodes hosted by Jim:

September 8, 2024

The Mathematics of Everyday Life

Al Posamentier and Christian Speitzer

Hosted by Jim Stein

Today I talked to Al Posamentier about his books (co-authored with Christian Speitzer) The Mathematics of Everyday Life (Prometheus Books, 2018). We a…

May 28, 2024

Tales of Impossibility

David S. Richeson

Hosted by Jim Stein

David S. Richeson's book Tales of Impossibility: The 2000-Year Quest to Solve the Mathematical Problems of Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2019…

April 19, 2023

Solving the Price Is Right

Justin L. Bergner

Hosted by Jim Stein

The Price is Right is television's longest-running game show. Since its inception in 1956, contestants have won cars, tropical vacations, diamond jewe…

December 18, 2022

Who's Counting?

John Allen Paulos

Hosted by Jim Stein

Innumeracy, by John Allen Paulos, was first published in 1988. In it the author brilliantly highlighted many of the sorry truths those of us who teach…

November 23, 2022

The Secret Lives of Numbers

Alfred S. Posamentier

Hosted by Jim Stein

Alfred S. Posamentier's The Secret Lives of Numbers: Numerals and Their Peculiarities in Mathematics and Beyond (Prometheus Books, 2022) is the first …

November 11, 2022

Mathematical Tools for Real-World Applications

Alexandr Draganov

Hosted by Jim Stein

I’ve never read a book like Mathematical Tools for Real-World Applications: A Gentle Introduction for Students and Practitioners (MIT Press, 2022) – i…

October 31, 2022

The Story of Proof

John Stillwell

Hosted by Jim Stein

The Story of Proof: Logic and the History of Mathematics (Princeton UP, 2022) investigates the evolution of the concept of proof--one of the most sign…

August 30, 2021

Math Tricks

Alfred S. Posamentier

Hosted by Jim Stein

Alfred S. Posamentier's Math Tricks: The Surprising Wonders of Shapes and Numbers (Prometheus Books, 2021) has a lovely assortment of puzzles from all…

April 2, 2021

The Raven's Hat

Jonas Peters and Nicolai Meinshausen

Hosted by Jim Stein

Games have been of interest to mathematicians almost since mathematics became a subject. In fact, entire branches of mathematics have arisen simply t…

February 22, 2021

Math Without Numbers

Milo Beckman

Hosted by Jim Stein

One of the questions I am often asked is exactly what do mathematicians do. The short answer is that they look at different mathematical structures, …

January 25, 2021

Games for Your Mind

Jason Rosenhouse

Hosted by Jim Stein

Jason Rosenhouse's Games for Your Mind: The History and Future of Logic Puzzles (Princeton UP, 2020) is about a panoply of logic puzzles. You’ll find…

November 11, 2020

The Joy of Geometry

Alfred S. Posamentier

Hosted by Jim Stein

Alfred S. Posamentier's The Joy of Geometry (Prometheus, 2020) is a book for someone who has taken geometry but wants to go further. This book, as one…

September 9, 2020

Mathematics Entertainment for the Millions

Alfred Posamentier

Hosted by Jim Stein

The book being discussed is Mathematics Entertainment for the Millions (World Scientific Publishing Co.), by Alfred Posamentier. In reading this book,…

August 13, 2020

Mage Merlin's Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries

Satyan Devadoss and Matt Harvey

Hosted by Jim Stein

There are very few math books that merit the adjective ‘charming’ but Mage Merlin's Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries (MIT Press, 2020) is one of them. …

April 27, 2020

Extraterrestrials

Wade Roush

Hosted by Jim Stein

Everything we know about how planets form and how life arises suggests that human civilization on Earth should not be unique. We ought to see abundant…

April 22, 2020

Beautiful Symmetry

Alex Berke

Hosted by Jim Stein

Alex Berke's Beautiful Symmetry (MIT Press, 2020) is both a fascinating book and a concept -- it's like no other book I’ve ever read. It's a coloring …

April 3, 2020

Hot Molecules, Cold Electrons

Paul J. Nahin

Hosted by Jim Stein

Hot Molecules, Cold Electrons: From the Mathematics of Heat to the Development of the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cable (Princeton University Press, 2020…

March 30, 2020

Sleight of Mind

Matt Cook

Hosted by Jim Stein

Paradox is a sophisticated kind of magic trick. A magician's purpose is to create the appearance of impossibility, to pull a rabbit from an empty hat.…

March 10, 2020

Math Makers

Alfred S. Posamentier

Hosted by Jim Stein

Today I talked to Alfred S. Posamentier, a co-author (with Christian Spreitzer) of Math Makers: The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians (Prome…

January 28, 2020

Conundrum

Brian Clegg

Hosted by Jim Stein

The book we are discussing is by Brian Clegg, a well-known author of books on math and science -- but this is not exactly a book on math or science, a…

December 3, 2019

How Charts Lie

Alberto Cairo

Hosted by Jim Stein

We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don’t understand what we’re looking at? Social media has made charts, infogra…

November 15, 2019

Curves for the Mathematically Curious

Julian Havil

Hosted by Jim Stein

Today I talked to Julian Havil about his latest book Curves for the Mathematically Curious: An Anthology of the Unpredictable, Historical, Beautiful, …

November 5, 2019

Six Impossible Things

John Gribbin

Hosted by Jim Stein

Today's podcast is on the book Six Impossible Things: The ‘Quanta of Solace’ and the Mysteries of the Subatomic World (Icon Books, 2019) by the noted …

September 16, 2019

Tools to Help Your Children Learn Math

Alfred Posamentier

Hosted by Jim Stein

Our guest today is Al Posamentier, the lead author of Tools to Help Your Children Learn Math (WSPC, 2019). Helping your children with math is one of t…