Popular mathematics explained

Popular mathematics is mathematical presentation aimed at a general audience. Sometimes this is in the form of books which require no mathematical background and in other cases it is in the form of expository articles written by professional mathematicians to reach out to others working in different areas.

Notable works of popular mathematics

Some of the most prolific popularisers of mathematics include Keith Devlin, Rintu Nath, Martin Gardner, and Ian Stewart. Titles by these three authors can be found on their respective pages.

On zero

• Book: . . Souvenir Press . 2000 . 978-0-285-63594-4.
• Book: . The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero . Oxford . 2000 . 978-0-19-514237-2.
• Book: Rintu Nath. Moments in Mathematics. Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology (India). 978-81-7480-224-8. 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151102045933/http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/nmy2012/National_Mathematical_Year2012.htm. 2015-11-02.

On infinity

• Book: . Playing with Infinity: Mathematical Explorations and Excursions . Playing with Infinity . Simon & Schuster . 1961.
• Rucker, Rudy (1982), Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite; Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. .
• Book: . Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable . Constable and Robinson . 2003 . 978-1-84119-650-3 . registration .
• Book: Robert Kaplan & Ellen Kaplan . The Art of the Infinite: Our Lost Language of Numbers . Penguin . 2004 . 978-0-14-100886-8.
• Book: . Beyond Infinity: An Expedition to the Outer Limits of Mathematics . Basic Books . 2017 . 978-0-465094813.

On constants

• Book: . A History of Pi . Saint Martin's Press . 1976 . 978-0-312-38185-1.
• Book: . "e", The Story of a Number . Princeton . 1998 . 978-0-691-05854-2 . registration .
• Book: . The Golden Ratio . Headline Review . 2003 . 978-0-7472-4988-7.
• Book: Julian Havil . Gamma . Princeton . 2003 . 978-0-691-09983-5.

On complex numbers

• Book: Paul J. Nahin. Paul J. Nahin . An Imaginary Tale: The Story of \sqrt{ -1 } . Princeton . 1998 . 978-0691027951.
• Book: Paul J. Nahin. Paul J. Nahin . Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula . Princeton . 2006 . 978-0-691-11822-2.

On the Riemann hypothesis

• Book: . . Plume Books . 2004 . 978-0-452-28525-5.
• Book: . The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics. 2003. 0-06-093558-8.
• Book: . In Pursuit of Zeta-3: The World's Most Mysterious Unsolved Math Problem . 2021 . 978-0-691-22759-7 . Princeton University Press.
• Book: Dan Rockmore . Stalking the Riemann Hypothesis: The Quest to Find the Hidden Law of Prime Numbers. Vintage . 2006 . 0-375-72772-8.
• Book: . Dr Riemann's Zeros . Atlantic Books . 2002 . 1-84354-100-9.

On recently solved problems

• Book: Robin J. Wilson . Four Colours Suffice . Penguin . 2003 . 978-0-14-100908-7.
• Book: . . Fourth Estate . 2002 . 1-84115-791-0.
• Book: Donal O'Shea . The Poincaré Conjecture . Penguin . 2007 . 978-1-84614-012-9.
• Book: George G. Szpiro . George Szpiro . Kepler's Conjecture . Wiley . 2003 . 0-471-08601-0.
• Book: George G. Szpiro . George Szpiro . Poincaré's Prize . registration . Dutton . 2007.

On classification of finite simple groups

• Book: . The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved . Souvenir Press . 2006 . 978-0-285-63743-6.
• Book: . Symmetry and the Monster . Oxford . 2006 . 0-19-280722-6.

On higher dimensions

• Rucker, Rudy (1984), The Fourth Dimension: Toward a Geometry of Higher Reality; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

On introduction to mathematics for the general reader

• Book: What is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods . . London . . 1941 . 0-19-502517-2.
• Book: Mathematics for the General Reader. . . 1948 . 0486813924.

Biographies

• Book: . The Man Who Loved Only Numbers . Fourth Estate . 1998 . 1-85702-811-2.
• Book: Bruce Schechter . My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos . Simon & Schuster . 2000 . 0-684-85980-7 .
• Book: . The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan . registration . Washington Square Press . 1991 . 0-671-75061-5.
• Book: . King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who Saved Geometry . Walker Books . 2006 . 0-887-84201-1.

Magazines and journals

• Popular science magazines such as New Scientist and Scientific American sometimes carry articles on mathematics.
• Plus Magazine is a free online magazine run under the Millennium Mathematics Project at the University of Cambridge.

The journals listed below can be found in many university libraries.

• American Mathematical Monthly is designed to be accessible to a wide audience.
• The Mathematical Gazette contains letters, book reviews and expositions of attractive areas of mathematics.
• Mathematics Magazine offers lively, readable, and appealing exposition on a wide range of mathematical topics.
• The Mathematical Intelligencer is a mathematical journal that aims at a conversational and scholarly tone.
• Notices of the AMS - Each issue contains one or two expository articles that describe current developments in mathematical research, written by professional mathematicians. The Notices also carries articles on the history of mathematics, mathematics education, and professional issues facing mathematicians, as well as reviews of books, plays, movies, and other artistic and cultural works involving mathematics.

Audio and video

• Simon Singh's Fermat's Last Theorem is available in audio and there is also a Horizon television program.
• 3Blue1Brown, YouTube channel by Grant Sanderson.
• Mathologer, YouTube channel by Burkard Polster.
• Numberphile, YouTube channel by Brady Haran.
• BetterExplained, YouTube channel and website by Kalid Azad.

Museums

Several museums aim at enhancing public understanding of mathematics:

In the United States:

• Museum of Mathematics, New York, and its predecessor, the Goudreau Museum of Mathematics in Art and Science,

In Austria:

• , Wien

In Germany:

• Arithmeum, Bonn
• Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, Dresden
• Mathematikum, Gießen
• , Frankfurt on Main
• , Freiberg
• , Oberwolfach

In Italy:

• The Garden of Archimedes