The Joy of x Audiobook By Steven Strogatz cover art

The Joy of x

A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Joy of x

By: Steven Strogatz
Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Many people take math in high school and promptly forget much of it. But math plays a part in all of our lives all of the time, whether we know it or not. In The Joy of x, Steven Strogatz expands on his hit New York Times series to explain the big ideas of math gently and clearly, with wit, and insight.

Whether he is illuminating how often you should flip your mattress to get the maximum lifespan from it, explaining just how Google searches the internet, or determining how many people you should date before settling down, Strogatz shows how math connects to every aspect of life. Discussing pop culture, medicine, law, philosophy, art, and business, Strogatz is the math teacher you wish you'd had. Whether you aced integral calculus or aren't sure what an integer is, you'll find profound wisdom and persistent delight in The Joy of x.

©2012 Steven Strogatz (P)2019 Tantor
Engineering Mathematics Suspenseful
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Joy of x

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    292
  • 4 Stars
    138
  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    274
  • 4 Stars
    95
  • 3 Stars
    32
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    246
  • 4 Stars
    103
  • 3 Stars
    42
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Too short

Too Short. Is there a sequel? enjoyed it very much and will look for similar mathematics books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible read

Amazing book that makes much of mathematics accessible and fun. One of the rare books that should get better with every read/listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good listen

Enjoyed the book. It was recommended by a friend and didn't disappoint. A great read if you liked or curious about math but don't understand the practical use of math. It does a great good pointing out the purpose of math in the real world that's not taught in school.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but fairly basic

Targeted at people who lack an intuitive grasp of math. Those who understand math will find a lot of the material too basic, but will still learn a few good tidbits

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good book to read but not a good AUDIBE book


This would be a good book to read on paper but only a good one to hear. It is clear from the (excellent) narrator that there are diagrams, images and formulas printed in the book that illustrate and illuminate the text but the listener can not see. This is particularly true in the sections on the geometric approximation of pi, limits, two holed torus shortest distances, and the Hilbert infinite hotel diagram. The section on conditional probability may have been the best part of the book as it is so often misused in medical and legal circles. Mathematics is a beautiful and elegant subject but deserves images to compliment words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed and found it interesting

I don’t have a mathematical background but I found nuggets that were very interesting. The book is an easy listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting but diagrams are hard to follow sometimes

There are a lot of diagrams that aren’t always easy to imagine. A companion of illustrations would fix that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An imaginative and refreshing review of many interesting math ideas

Stepfather does a good job of connecting with my mind most of the time. I get new and fresh perspectives on many things. A pdf or image would have helped me during the set theory and infinity discussion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Math needs unite!

I love this book! And I finally learned why I was taught calculus. All s

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great! Buy get the paper version if you can.

Another great book by Strogatz. He does a great job making math personable and fun. The only down size is the fact that having someone read you equations is not very easy to follow. Get the paper version instead. Also, read this one first before going to Infinite Powers, as that one deals with higher level math. This book is good for elementary level math.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful