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About Jim Stein
NBN Episodes hosted by Jim:
April 19, 2023
Solving the Price Is Right
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?
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'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
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
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'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
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
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'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'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
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
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
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'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
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
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
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…
December 3, 2019
How Charts Lie
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
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
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 …
October 30, 2019
Tales of Impossibility
David S. Richeson's book Tales of Impossibility: The 2000-Year Quest to Solve the Mathematical Problems of Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2019…
September 16, 2019
Tools to Help Your Children Learn Math
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…
July 18, 2019
Your Place in the Universe
In Your Place in the Universe: Understanding Our Big, Messy Existence (Prometheus, 2018), Paul Sutter presents an in-depth yet accessible tour of the …