The Universe and the Teacup by K.C. Cole

The Universe and the Teacup by K.C. Cole

Genre: General Educational Nonfiction (mathematics)

Written in the vein of the Malcolm Gladwell and Freakonomics sort, The Universe and the Teacup tries to explain the beauty behind some fundamental mathematics in both everyday and esoteric phenomena. K.C. Cole is skilled at science writing—or, rather, science communication for us laymen. The book is stuffed with more metaphors than an Ian McEwan novel. But, rightly so, however. How else can she reduce complex functions and theorems of physics, astronomy, economics into edible and digestible tidbits? Some of my favorites: “Forty isn’t that old for a tree.” ”The twins, Zanzibar and Bambi; Grandma Agnes and her new sweetheart; Mom and Dad; teenage Abigail; testosterone-pumped Jimbob and Yadayadayadayada are fighting over which movie to watch. This example illustrates the inherent fallacies of the current American voting system of majority rule. kthxbai.”

Overall, I was interested in the material, though I wished that the book went into more detail. There was plenty of hyperbole and non-sequitur quotations but not enough fleshing out of the statistics and the math (hello! The subtitle of the book is “the math of truth and beauty”. Or something like that). I didn’t glean that much new knowledge, except for the last chapter on the importance of symmetries. Going with a rather philosophical bent, Cole maintains that life is a beautiful destruction of born symmetry. I kind of like that image.

Rating: Mind is not Blown; Could be better