Review of “A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra),” by Barbara Oakley. New York: Tarcher/Penguin, 2014, paper, 316 pages.
Some great coping strategies for professionals helping the unhoused!
In my whole life, I have never seen a book with a title having less to do with the content inside. While I do not think this book has much to do with learning math or science, I do think it has some value as a good guide to learning a lot of helpful strategies for getting things accomplished each day.
That being said, there are some great coping strategies for professionals helping the unroofed persons we try to assist every day. The book does not focus on those who help the homeless—but it can be used that way!
There is an entire chapter on procrastination and how to avoid it. The author echoes the points of other experts on achievement and motivation. For example, it is thought that we procrastinate on issues or projects that make us uncomfortable. It is important to understand that life—and jobs—will include some duties we simply have to do. Instead of giving into all the distractions these days, we need to get to work. Instead of playing on the computer, we need to sit down and do one hour of serious work to start off our days. There is time to reward ourselves with play later in the day.
There is also a chapter devoted to enhancing our memory by using tricks to remember important information in our field. In this chapter, as in others, the author includes vignettes told by experts in several different areas. Here, the author uses an expert on special intelligence, explaining how this professional came to understand “space” later on in life. Important to architects and other planners, an understanding of how things fit is essential. This expert gives some hints on how people can improve their skills and thought regarding this particular area.
There is a chapter called “Renaissance Learning” which tells us of the power of learning on our own. One goal of many adult professionals is to continue to become more efficient as life-long learners. This chapter is very helpful at looking at how we can develop individual study skills, focus on teaching ourselves through reading, avoiding people who drag us down, and seeking really good teachers for that advice we must ask for or for that technical explanation we cannot create on our own. This is a particularly helpful chapter.
In most chapters, the author uses stories and strategies shared by experts in a wide variety of fields, such as assessment and counseling, to relate this information to a broader group.
Many different people will read this book—and maybe this review—and so it is interesting to look at how disparate training and professions can contribute to this conversation on using our brains better, remember things, avoid distractions, and get things done.
This author does provide us with a wealth of good stuff for those of us who are always trying hard to figure out how to get more projects completed every day.
I can recommend this book for a couple of uses—even if it doesn’t have much to do with learning math or science.
The book is certainly interesting to read on the plane, to use as recommended reading in graduate courses dealing with research, and courses related to professional training, job searching, and soul searching.
The book includes all those great coping strategies for dealing with the unhoused and their issues and cultures. It includes ideas for helping the homeless find ways to deal with their challenges and troubles. It also has ideas for dealing with the stigma felt by caseworkers, street-helpers, and counselors—all of whom are trying to assist the unhoused—whose world is often grossly misunderstood by most people.
The book could also be used somewhat successfully in learning math or science, I think.