New Books Network

About Jim Stein

NBN Episodes hosted by Jim:

Mathematics 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 might expect, is …
Mathematics 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, it occurred to me that it might equally well …
Literature 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. Satyan Devadoss and Matt Harvey have …
Science 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 evidence of extraterrestrial activity―but …
Art April 22, 2020

Beautiful Symmetry

A Coloring Book about Math

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 book about math …
Communications April 3, 2020

Hot Molecules, Cold Electrons

From the Mathematics of Heat to the Development of the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cable

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), by Paul Nahin, is a book that is meant …
Language March 30, 2020

Sleight of Mind

75 Ingenious Paradoxes in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy

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. Yet paradox doesn't require …
Biography March 10, 2020

Math Makers

The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians

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 (Prometheus, 2020). This charming book is more …
Mathematics January 28, 2020

Conundrum

Crack the Ultimate Cipher Challenge

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 …
Economics December 3, 2019

How Charts Lie

Getting Smarter about Visual Information

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, infographics, and diagrams ubiquitous―and …
Intellectual History November 15, 2019

Curves for the Mathematically Curious

An Anthology of the Unpredictable, Historical, Beautiful, and Romantic

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, and Romantic (Princeton University Press, 2019). You don’t …
Science November 5, 2019

Six Impossible Things

The ‘Quanta of Solace’ and the Mysteries of the Subatomic World

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 author John Gribbin. Although …