Move over, Sherlock and Watson鈥攖he detective duo to be reckoned with. In the entertaining short-story collection L.A. Math, freelance investigator Freddy Carmichael and his sidekick, Pete Lennox, show how math smarts can crack even the most perplexing cases. Freddy meets colorful personalities throughout Los Angeles and encounters mysterious circumstances from embezzlement and robbery to murder. In each story, Freddy’s deductive instincts鈥攁nd Pete’s trusty math skills鈥攕olve the crime.
Featuring such glamorous locales as Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Malibu, and Santa Barbara, the fourteen short stories in L.A. Math take Freddy and Pete through various puzzles and challenges. In 鈥淎 Change of Scene,鈥� Freddy has to figure out who is selling corporate secrets to a competitor鈥攕o he uses mathematical logic to uncover the culprit. In 鈥淭he Winning Streak,鈥� conditional probability turns the tables on an unscrupulous bookie. And in 鈥淢essage from a Corpse,鈥� the murderer of a wealthy widow is revealed through the rules of compound interest. It鈥檚 everything you expect from the City of Angels鈥擜-listers and wannabes, lovers and lawyers, heroes and villains. Readers will not only be entertained, but also gain practical mathematics knowledge, ranging from percentages and probability to set theory, statistics, and the mathematics of elections. For those who want to delve into mathematical subjects further, the book includes a supplementary section with more material.
Filled with intriguing stories, L.A. Math is a treat for lovers of romance, crime, or mathematics.
"Fun for any crime-fiction lover who fancies a spot of mathematical adventuring, or vice versa."鈥擝rian Clegg, Popular Science
"James D Stein . . . explains in the preface to the book that entertaining stories set in Los Angeles, with mathematics squeezed painlessly in, was his long cherished dream of a way to teach basic math as fun rather than a chore . . . a book to teach math to non-science students at university."鈥擲. Ananthanarayanan, The Statesman
"If you liked the Numb3rs TV show: L.A. Math: Romance, Crime, and Mathematics in the City of Angels by James D. Stein."鈥擩ohn Allen Paulos, author of, A Numerate Life
"A former maths professor has turned detective to demonstrate just how useful鈥攁nd how entertaining鈥攈is subject can be."鈥擬atthew Reiz, Times Higher Education
"With tight and engaging plots, the stories in LA Math are neatly written and just the right length to read in around 15 minutes."鈥擠ominic Lenton, Engineering & Technology
"I've always wanted to find a book that combines genuinely readable short stories with insights into math or science鈥攊n L.A. Math, James Stein pulls this off remarkably well. It's as if Ellery Queen, with the help of P. G. Wodehouse, spiced up a collection of detective tales with a generous handful of practical mathematics."鈥擝rian Clegg, author of A Brief History of Infinity and Dice World
"In this fun collection of short stories, Stein's enthusiasm for mysteries that combine sleuthing and mathematics shines through. The math examples used in the stories are excellent and the topics progress naturally. By the end, readers not only have a good understanding of mathematical thinking but also how math can happen around them every day."鈥擝ruce Rothschild, professor emeritus of mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles
"James Stein covers a remarkable range of important mathematical methods and concepts鈥攁ll by telling stories in Los Angeles. His book makes difficult ideas easy and is an original and highly accessible way of learning more about a vital subject."鈥擨an Stewart, author of Professor Stewart's Casebook of Mathematical Mysteries
"L.A. Math could be described as the spirit of Encyclopedia Brown merged with the solving of imaginative math problems. James Stein recasts mathematical and logical conundrums in a series of delightful vignettes between Freddy, a freelance detective new to Los Angeles, and his landlord, Pete, who has a surprising ability to use math to solve Freddy's cases. A wonderful book."鈥擫ance Fortnow, author of The Golden Ticket
"With L.A. Math, James Stein has written a fun collection of short stories whose mysteries are resolved through classical mathematical conundrums. A unique book that is suitably entertaining both in and out of the classroom."鈥擜rthur Benjamin, author of The Magic of Math
"I love this book. With attention to scene and character, L.A. Math weaves together the detective genre with mathematics in entertaining and enjoyable ways."鈥擮scar Fernandez, author of Everyday Calculus
