How to Bake Pi

An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics

By: Eugenia Cheng

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

What is math? And how exactly does it work? In How to Bake Pi, math professor Eugenia Cheng provides an accessible introduction to the logic of mathematics - sprinkled throughout with recipes for everything from crispy duck to cornbread - that illustrates to the general listener the beauty of math. Rather than dwell on the math of our high school classes, with formulas to memorize and confusing symbols to decipher, Cheng takes us into a world of abstract mathematics, showing us how math can be so much more than we ever thought possible.

Cheng is an expert on category theory, a cutting-edge subject that is all about figuring out how math works, a kind of mathematics of mathematics. In How to Bake Pi, Cheng starts with the basic question "What is math?" to explain concepts like abstraction, generalization, and idealization. By going back to the logical foundation of the math we all know (and may or may not love), she shows that math is actually designed to make difficult things easier. From there, she introduces us to category theory, explaining how it works to organize and simplify the whole discipline of mathematics. The result is a book that combines some of the most satisfying features of popular math books - the thrill of truly understanding things that may or may not have been confounding in high school - while still looking long and hard into unexplored territory.

Through lively writing and easy-to-follow explanations, How to Bake Pi takes even the most hardened math-phobeon a journey to the cutting edge of mathematical research.

©2015 Eugenia Cheng. Recorded by arrangement with Weinstein Books. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Tavia Gilbert narrates with a liveliness and lightness that one might not expect in a book about the world of mathematics.... Gilbert's lyrical narration, together with her deliberate speed as she delivers the formulas, brings clarity and a down-to-earth approach to this often intimidating subject matter." (AudioFile)

Oral Recipe Book

All in all, I liked this book. However, even though I was a mathematician (not PHD), it was hard to follow without seeing the recipes, formulae and theorems. Watching Julia Childs was fun and entertaining, but I had to buy her recipe book in order to actually prepare something.

Such is the case with this book. I will have to buy a hard copy in order to try the recipes (they sound quite good) and review the math (much of which I have forgotten over the years).

Tavia did a good job of relating rather complex material in clear voice with great inflection and a good sense of timing for the humor.

Might not be best for audio

Very interesting book, I throughly enjoyed it. However I feel like there are probbly some illustrations described in the book that would make more sense when shown.

Mathematics is easy, life is hard.

I read How to Bake Pi in hopes that ingredients, dessert recipes, and baking would help elucidate math for me, and this worked for the most part. Some of the food analogies are necessarily a bit forced, and I had trouble relating some of them to the math being discussed, but that was most likely a failing on my part.

One thing that stands out in Dr. Cheng's book is her ability to clearly define and talk about math terms that I've heard, been taught, used, but never completely understood (or perhaps I've forgotten.) She thoroughly discusses concepts like abstraction, generalization and axiomatization in ways that even I could understand, before writing about her own field of category theory in the second part of the book. Things got a bit murky there for me; I kept wondering, “What is category theory?” even while hearing that it is “the mathematics of mathematics.” This is probably because I'm a reader and student that needs concrete examples that I can ponder and examine, but I'm not sure category theory or Dr. Cheng can provide that.

What I liked best about How to Bake Pi is Dr. Cheng's enthusiasm for her subject matter, that she seems to really care about explaining mathematics to non-mathematicians, that she made me think and also raised many other questions, ideas, and areas of interest for me. Even if you may not care about math or think math is difficult, listening to How to Bake Pi may change your mind in an interesting and enjoyable way. Like the author says, “Mathematics is easy, life is hard.”

A good overview of the mathmatical thought process

This book was surprisingly enjoyable. It focuses on the thought process behind math, decoding the type of thinking that goes into the theories and equations that math produces. The concepts include simplification, abstraction, relations, building from other principles. It does this with a very inviting tone, presenting the idea, relating it to coming, providing some examples of how this is used in math, adding in an analogy or two and then recapping the concept. Very pleasant book, which in the last 3rd focuses on "category theory" which takes a 'structuralist' sort of approach to math.

Unsure of goal

I have a mathematics degree and teach high school math. I understood the content, however many times I wondered where the author was going. I had some insights along the way but less so as the book progressed.