Question

Summarize The Math Instinct

Answer 1

As you might expect if you already have an interest in this subject, Devlin mentions many of the classic examples of maths found in nature. He describes the Fibonacci swirl of sunflower seeds or leaves on a stem, the patterning of leopard spots, the hexagonal lattice of honeycomb, dogs that calculate the quickest route to a stick thrown into the sea (taking into account that running along sand is much faster than swimming) and "Clever Hans", the horse that was thought to be able to do sums.

All of these have already been well covered in numerous other popular accounts, and this book is frustratingly thin on the maths behind these examples. But Devlin does give a satisfying explanation of the reasons for the spiral of a spider's web, a nautilus shell, and the hunting dive of a falcon.