'...the subtitle is highly misleading. Go with the title-it is nothing more and nothing less than a math dictionary...it is an attractive and helpful supplement to a math student's studies.' .-Snow Wildsmith. Voice of Youth Advocate 4/1/2007

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

If you spend any amount of time around me, and by that I mean about five minutes (sometimes less), you'll realize pretty quickly that I hate math. Hate it. Abhor it. Can't stand it. Oh, sure, I'm pretty positive that I use it occasionally, most of the time without even knowing it. But if you ask me a math-related question, I'm likely to give you a blank-eyed stare of confusion. Case in point: The other night my son, who will be ten years old in a matter of days, asked me the square root of 64. After the aforementioned blank-eyed stare of confusion, he proceeded to tell me that "square root" means a number that can be multiplied by itself to get the answer. Yes, there was more staring and more confusion. "Like the square root of sixteen is four, mom, because four times four is sixteen. And ten doesn't have a square root, because you can't multiply any number times itself to get ten." Oh, yeah, I knew that. Not.

So when I received my copy of MATH DICTIONARY (whose additional title, by the way, is "The Easy, Simple, Fun Guide To Help Math Phobics Become Math Lovers") I was hit with feelings of both trepidation and wonder. Needless to say, I'm still not a math lover, but I think that with the help of this book, I can at least convince my son that I do, in fact, know the basics of mathematics.

MATH DICTIONARY is an A to Z list of some of the most common terms you'll hear in a math classroom. Although the book doesn't cover advanced calculus or any of the hard-to-pronounce mathematical theories that the guy on the TV show Numb3rs likes to spout, it does cover basic mathematics, geometry, algebra, and even statistics and probability. It's all there, from abacus to longitude to zero property of multiplication--and everything in between.

Although MATH DICTIONARY might not turn you into a math lover, it will keep you amused with its "Did You Know?" facts, which are actually quite interesting. It can be used as a handy reference guide to all school-age children, especially those delving into the harder mathematical arenas. And, for parents like myself who are outsmarted by fourth graders, it can definitely keep you from looking stupid. Or as un-stupid as parents can possibly appear to their children! ( )

Citation
Monroe, Eula E. Math Dictionary: The Easy, Simple, Fun Guide to Help Math Phobice Become Math Lovers. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 2006.

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Abstract and Mini-Review
Reading the sub-title of this book, I was expecting something more on the line of Marilyn Burns' I Hate Mathematics book. I was sorely mistaken. This book is rather a basic math dictionary. Some interesting real-life applications of math are presented as well as some stunning photographs; however, this is certainly not enough to convert to truly convert the math phobic. The definitions are accurate, but some are not particularly clear and often use mathematical terms that may also be unknown by the user.

Recommendation Justification
Unless you have a significant reference budget, I would not order this book for your library. The terms defined here would be defined, and probably better explained, in the textbooks of the middle-school students who this text would be applicable to.

Uses in the Library/Classroom
The primary use of this text would be as reference in a library or mathematics classroom.

Appropriateness of Artwork
The cover art is phenomenal - displaying full color photographs of math terms defined in the book. One huge missed opportunity; however, is that the terms are not provided on the cover nor in an intro page. The student must know the term to find these photographs explained in the book.

The illustrations and photographs throughout the text are rendered in black, white, and red only. Again, to truly bring in the math phobic and the reluctant readers the illustrations or at least the photographs should be rendered in full color.