
Brazil's other passion: Malba Tahan and the man who counted - a_w
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27254747
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soneca
Great story. I was born (in Brazil) in 1979 and Malba Tahan was very popular
among the kids who liked math and/or puzzles. It is one of these books that
leave a mark on you. I still have fond memories of reading it and trying to
solve the puzzles.

It is not clear in the OP, but the math in the book is usually presented in
the form of puzzles that different characters present to the protagonist. So
the reader has time to understand the puzzle and try to solve it before the
protagonist begins to explain the solution.

I was immensily proud of a particular puzzle I solved before reading the
solution. It was fun, engaging and educational in very deep and lasting ways.
The deep respect and consideration for a culture so diverse from ours was a
huge bonus that just now I begin to understand. Sure, using the arabic world
was pure marketing and sure, he paints a world of fantasy, not a historically
accurate one, but he could have used it with disrepect and misinformation, but
you can tell he cared about the culture.

Great book, too sad it doesn't help brazilian math education a bit, as we are
one of the worst in the world at it (for decades). He could have being our
revolution hero in the field, but sadly he is just an oasis. A very isolated
one.

~~~
blahedo
When I read the article, I was thinking, "why couldn't the US have someone
like this?" After reading your post, it jogged my memory, and I realised we
sort of do (or did): Martin Gardner's writing is a lot like that (though
without the fictional Persian frame-story).

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pmelendez
The man who counted was my favorite book back when I was a teenager. It is
also a very popular book across Latin America. Beremiz Samir was some sort of
MacGyver applying math. In overall it is a very proper read if you are a math
inclined teenager but it is also very enjoyable in general.

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guelo
Shouldn't it be the man who calculated? Contar is to count.

~~~
tokenadult
Whatever it might have been in English, the title of his book in English is
_The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures,_ [1] and the
news report in English kindly submitted here refers to the book by its
familiar English title. (I have known of this book since before Hacker News
existed.)

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Who-Counted-
Mathematical/dp/03...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Man-Who-Counted-
Mathematical/dp/0393309347)

