Masses Of Maths

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Sooner or later, most programmers come across a problem that requires a knowledge of maths, and wish that they could remember more of their school maths. This book should provide the answer to their needs. Its appeal should also extend to people with limited mathematical ability who wish to know more, to pupils studying maths, and to teachers wishing to illustrate mathematical principles and techniques.

This is quite a long book - over 250 pages. Most of the mathematical topics covered are illustrated with one or more short program listings - each about ten lines long. There are 101 of these programs, all of which work on either the Beeb or the Electron.

There is plenty of depth to the material, and some of the topics covered are: types of numbers, operators, powers, roots, functions and graphs, trigonometry, polynomials, polar co-ordinates, complex numbers, series, vectors, matrices, differentiation and integration and some statistics. A useful touch is a series of user-defined graphics definitions covering most of the common mathematical symbols.

The style of the book is very informal and easy-to-read, and the programs support the material well. There are no tedious end-of-chapter exercises, and, sadly, there is no index. This is one of the few maths books I have enjoyed reading, and it will be a welcome addition to my collection of reference books.

Martin Phillips