Incredible Numbers by Professor Ian Stewart
By Galen McQuillen,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Beautiful exploration of math beyond classroom; dense text.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
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Incredible Numbers by Professor Ian Stewart
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What’s It About?
INCREDIBLE NUMBERS BY PROFESSOR IAN STEWART is a very beautiful, interactive reference app which dives into areas of math not covered in the typical school curriculum. Users click through a variety of topics presented with passages explaining the history and nature of the chosen content. Each section also includes an interactive visualization and hyperlinks to bios of historical figures. A few math puzzles and a floating field of interactive special numbers are accessible any time.
Is It Any Good?
The math topics are fascinating, and the interactive elements bring concepts to life, but the writing is pretty complicated, riddled with tough vocabulary and requiring a lot of background knowledge. Thankfully, the interactive visualizations give those tricky passages some much-needed clarity. In that sense, it may be the best way out there to illuminate these ideas for teens. Even with the beautiful explorations, ultimately this is mostly a read-to-learn experience, probably only fully accessible by those already curious about math or those willing to do some outside reading to supplement.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why math is interesting for its own sake, instead of simply being a tool for doing work and dealing with money.
Discuss why theory, exploration, and curiosity are important for improving our understanding of the world.
Start a conversation about where people use math in the real world and where math is used only for fun or intellectual stimulation.
Talk about the historical figures in math and science, such as those in the app. Where do they all seem to come from? What kinds of backgrounds do they have? Are they mostly all men, and if so, why?
App Details
- Device: iPad
- Subjects: Math: numbers, patterns, shapes
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: asking questions, investigation, Creativity: combining knowledge, Self-Direction: academic development
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: August 13, 2015
- Category: Education
- Topics: Science and Nature
- Publisher: Touchpress Limited
- Version: 1.0.3
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0
- Last updated: October 17, 2019
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