The Proof and the Pudding: What Mathematicians, Cooks, and You Have in Common

by Jim Henle

Overview

Tantalizing math puzzles and cooking recipes that show how mathematical thinking is like the culinary arts

Tie on your apron and step into Jim Henle's kitchen as he demonstrates how two equally savory pursuits—cooking and mathematics—have more in common than you realize. A tasty dish for gourmets of popular math, The Proof and the Pudding offers a witty and flavorful blend of mathematical treats and gastronomic delights that reveal how life in the mathematical world is tantalizingly similar to life in the kitchen.

Take a tricky Sudoku puzzle and a cake that fell. Henle shows you that the best way to deal with cooking disasters is also the best way to solve math problems. Or take an L-shaped billiard table and a sudden desire for Italian potstickers. He explains how preferring geometry over algebra (or algebra over geometry) is just like preferring a California roll to chicken tikka masala. Do you want to know why playfulness is rampant in math and cooking? Or how to turn stinky cheese into an awesome ice cream treat? It’s all here: original math and original recipes plus the mathematical equivalents of vegetarianism, Asian fusion, and celebrity chefs.

Pleasurable and lighthearted, The Proof and the Pudding is a feast for the intellect as well as the palate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691164861
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/27/2015
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jim Henle is the Myra M. Sampson Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Smith College. His books include Sweet Reason: A Field Guide to Modern Logic and Calculus: The Language of Change. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgments ix

1 The Mad Scientist 1

2 The Arrogant Chef 11

3 Simple Tastes 21

4 Complex Flavors 30

5 The Discriminating Eater 40

6 The Persistent Cook 44

7 Gluttony 54

8 Vanity, Sloth, Parsimony, and Lust 62

9 On the Edge, and Over 70

10 Thinking Globally 79

11 Eating Locally 87

12 The Humble Cook 92

13 The Clueless Geek 99

14 Elegant Dishes 103

15 Food for the Masses 110

16 Good Food for the Masses 111

17 Just for Fun 112

18 Just to Be Weird 117

19 Celebrity Chefs 124

20 Economy 128

21 Ethics 135

22 Fusion 138

23 It All Comes Together 149

24 It All Falls Apart 151

25 A Proof and a Pudding 161

Index 163

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"If you're a fan of Julia Child or Martin Gardner—who respectively proved that anyone can have fun preparing fancy food and doing real mathematics—you'll enjoy this playful yet passionate romp from Jim Henle. It's stuffed with tasty treats and ingenious ideas for further explorations, both in the kitchen and with pencil and paper, and draws many thought-providing parallels between two fields not often considered in the same mouthful."—Colm Mulcahy, author of Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects

"The Proof and the Pudding challenges mathematicians to be chefs and chefs to be mathematicians. Using a pencil in his mathematical kitchen, Henle explores the natural connections between mathematics and cooking and reveals how both can be creative, fun, and memorable. So pull up a plate and enjoy helping after helping of insight into gastronomy, math, and problem solving."—Tim Chartier, author of Math Bytes: Google Bombs, Chocolate-Covered Pi, and Other Cool Bits in Computing

"Henle has written an enjoyable book that does an excellent job of relating mathematics to something we all do every day. Part cookbook and part popular-math book, The Proof and the Pudding is well written, insightful, and enlightening."—Oscar E. Fernandez, author of Everyday Calculus: Discovering the Hidden Math All around Us

Editorial Reviews

Shortlisted for the 2016 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, in Digital E-Books

From the Publisher