Wow! eBook
Unequal: The Math of When Things Do and Don’t Add Up
Author(s): Eugenia Cheng (Author)
- Publisher: Basic Books
- Publication Date: September 2, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 400 pages
- ISBN-10: 1541606558
- ISBN-13: 9781541606555
Book Description
“Eugenia Cheng has opened up my mind to the wondrous world of pure mathematics in a way that I never thought was possible.” ―Willow Smith, singer and actress
A New Scientist Best Book of the Year
Math is famous for its equations: 1 + 1 = 2, a^2 + b^2 = c^2, or y = mx + b. It can seem like that’s all mathematics is: following steps to show that what’s on one side of an equation is the same as what’s on the other.
In
As Unequal shows, once you go over that rainbow, almost everything can be considered equal and unequal at the same time, whether it’s shapes (seen from the right perspective, a circle is the same as an ellipse), words (synonyms), or people—even numbers! That’s because mathematics isn’t a series of rules, facts, or answers. It’s an invitation to a more powerful way of thinking.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“In her latest book, Eugenia Cheng continues to bring mathematical concepts to the public through clear and clever writing.”―
American Mathematical Society“Intriguing, thought-provoking, and occasionally dizzying,
Unequal offers new ways of formulating solutions for all kinds of problems.”―Booklist“The book definitely offers, at a level accessible to the general reader, a rare taste of the flavor of contemporary mathematics.”―
Mathematics Magazine“Eugenia Cheng has opened up my mind to the wondrous world of pure mathematics in a way that I never thought was possible.”―
Willow Smith, singer and actress“Eugenia Cheng’s writing is generous and precise, a soft-serve swirl of the universal and the particular. In a way that few mathematicians can, she writes for everyone.”―
Ben Orlin, author of Math with Bad Drawings“Eugenia Cheng has done it again. Not only is she a great teacher of powerful mathematics: she shows us how understanding math can help us live better lives. Once you read this book, you’ll have a new perspective on equality and difference, and why both matter so much.”―
Stephon Alexander, author of The Jazz of Physics“Eugenia Cheng has done it again! With her usual brilliance she has caused us to question all that we thought was true about mathematics.”―
Jo Boaler, author of Math-ish“Eugenia Cheng has humour, grace and a natural gift”―
Daniel Levitin, author of I Heard There Was a Secret Chord“Clear, clever and friendly…even at her most whimsical, she is rigorous and insightful” ―
Alex Bellos, author of The Grapes of Math
