The Math Instinct: Why You're a Mathematical Genius (Along With Lobsters, Birds, Cats, and Dogs).

KEITH DEVLIN 

Ever wonder how migrating birds navigate or how a dog knows just where to run to intercept a thrown ball? Both feats can be explained by complex mathematical computations on paper. However, the animals don't know that. They compute with an innate mathematical sense. In this book, Devlin explores the many ways in which math is built into nature. He examines how the process of natural selection has resulted in ants that set their courses by dead reckoning, homing pigeons with built-in compasses, and bats that use sonar. All these innate capabilities can be explained in detail only by using complex trigonometry and calculus. Math appears in nature in other ways: Fibonacci numbers dictate the design of a sunflower, and the engineering behind an animal's vision system is remarkably precise. People, too, are born with a sense of numbers. Devlin reveals the differences between the symbolic mathematics taught in schools, which many students have difficulty mastering, and the inherent "street math" that we all demonstrate when we perform real-life tasks. Devlin ends the book with tips for improving math skills. Thunder Mouth Press, 2005, 279 p., hardcover, b&w illus., $25.00.