Review of Street-Fighting Mathematics: The Art of Educated Guessing and Opportunistic Problem Solving by Sanjoy Mahajan

Abstract

Mahajan, Sanjoy. Street-Fighting Mathematics: The Art of Educated Guessing and Opportunistic Problem Solving (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2010). 152 pp. ISBN 978--0--262--51429--3 Street-Fighting Mathematics is an engaging collection of problem-solving techniques. The book is not for a general audience, as it requires a significant level of mathematical and scientific background knowledge. In particular, most of the book requires knowledge of Calculus I and there are examples that will require knowledge of Physics. At the same time, there are parts of the book that don't require this much background. While the title of the book may be misleading, as it is really street-fighting mathematics for people with a fair amount of training in the subject, there is a lot to be gained from reading this book, and calculus teachers may find it to be a useful resource.

Keywords

• Calculus
• Problem Solving
• Estimation
• Approximation