Book Guide

This is a book about negative numbers. It does away forever with the myth that numbers begin with 1, go on to 2, then to 3, and continue from there. Those are just positive numbers.

By means of the number line and a new and interesting game, Robert Froman shows that although positive numbers are the ones we usually think about, negative numbers abound in our everyday lives. We often use negative numbers, although we may not be aware of it.

Space launches always begin with a countdown of seconds: the "five, four, three, two, one" preceding the firing of the rocket are really negative numbers. They lead to blast-off and to the positive "mission time" which follows blast-off—one, two, three, four, five, and so forth. The 2 cents you borrow from a friend; the 10 degrees below zero that the temperature sometimes reaches in winter; and the 105 feet below sea level that some scuba divers swim at, can all be thought of as negative numbers.

With the help of the clear text, and the delightful illustrations of Don Madden, the reader of this book will discover the "something" that is "less than nothing."

From the dust jacket of Building Tables on Tables

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Robert Froman

Robert Froman

1917 - 1994
American
"If I hadn't made up my mind to be a writer, I would have been a mathematician," Robert Froman tells us. In BIGGER AND SMALLER, Mr. Froman has combi... See more
Don Madden

Don Madden

1927 -
American
Don Madden has always loved animals and the outdoors. He is delighted, therefore, to be living in an old house in Upstate New York with his wife, an... See more

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