Secrets Of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightening Calculation and Amazing Maths Tricks Paperback – Illustrated, 8 Aug. 2006

Amazing book! Sat up in bed reading it now! I have an interest in maths and have been trying to sharpen up my mental skills. If you want to do this too, then this is the place to get started! The authors make the book accessible and fun, and I find myself eager to learn a new skill each day. I don't bother with calculators much anyway, but I'm getting more confident and can now square big numbers in my head and do multiplications and divisions of a greater complexity than before.In an age when everyone relies on a calculator to do 10/2, being able to bash out some answers to tough questions faster than someone can whip out their phone does impress!

Good little math tricks and tips in here. You aren't bad at math you were just taught poorly, remember that. This book makes math easier to access and become skilled at. Worth adding to your book collection, give it a try. Arthur Benjamin has some pretty cool TED talks too if you haven't seen his live stuff, he makes math look really fun as good teachers should.

I always wanted to get my poor mental maths up to scratch. I bought this book in lockdown and committed to reading / practising for 25 minutes every single day for four months. At the end of each month, I tested myself with a set of 20 mixed questions.Starting point: I know my times tables, but have to work my way up them for some of the higher numbers. I can do two-by-one multiplication and addition/subtraction of three-digit numbers with a bit of thought. Anything much else I can do only with considerable difficulty. Double-digit squares or three-by-two multiplication in my head is not possible.After one month: I have internalized the materials in the book. I can now do double-digit squares and three-by-two multiplication mentally, although it sometimes takes a while. Holding numbers in my head is a big problem and I frequently have to look back at the question. Test result: 16/20 in about 20 minutes.After two months: Still all rather difficult. Test result: 15/20 in about 21 minutes. Oh dear.After three months. Multiplication tables feeling a little more comfortable now, along with holding numbers in my head while performing calculations with other numbers. Test result: 14/20 in about 17 minutes.After four months. Multiplication tables feel comfortable in most cases. Mental agility seems to be coming on. Test result: 15/20 in about 12 minutes.While I won't impress anyone with such results, I am encouraged by the improvement generated by reading this book and practising its techniques. I found it far better than the Trachtenberg System, which relies on a right-to-left approach to calculation that does not really work without using paper.

I ordered this book a while back but never got time to read it. I started reading it last week and have been doing an hour a night during bed time.I'm blown away by how simple the author makes things. I can do many mental math calculations and people are confused as to how I'm doing it so fast. My 9 year old pulls out his calculator and tests me on calculations, then he asks me to show him how I done it. He can do the multiplying by 11, and squaring numbers. His teacher was blown away that he could do the calculations so fast and gave him a gold star in class. I've told him "sssssh keep it a secret, don't tell anyone how you're doing it".Awesome book. Highly recommend.

I didn't do well at maths in school, and this fact has haunted me throughout my adult life. However, the crunch came when I started a new job in a finance role, and I decided I had to improve. This book is very easy to follow, and the techniques it teaches have been a revelation to me, truly astounding. My self confience in my maths ability has been restored. I recommend this book without reservation.

After seeing Arthur on TED and also seeing his techniques on youtube, i just wanted something i could follow through. I was not disappointed. This is a definitely a worthwhile investment for teachers, students and parents (even if you just want to improve your maths). Personally i don't think many techniques can be done mentally for an average person, but i think its an excellent/smart book none the less.

What an excellent book, maths sure looks a better subject after even a few pages of this wonderful book.Maths becomes greater fun, clear and engaging this book should be read by as many people as possible,well worth its price.

Unable to make a review as it only arrived on Monday 5July not the 2nd as indicated What I have seen is interesting and I will start my son using it now fingers crossed it will help But over all view of the book so far Ok Any help with maths is a positive