Colorful Characters of Mathematics

Colorful Characters of Mathematics, Isaac Asimov, 1999, 15 posters $21.95.   Carolina Biological Supply Company, 2700 York Rd., Burlington, NC 27215 (800) 334-5551, http://www.carolina.com/

This set of posters is a welcome addition to any mathematics classroom. The sketches resemble the known likenesses of the mathematicians portrayed. Each poster contains well-written, accurate biographical sketches of each mathematician on poster board (11" x 14"). The set is colorful and eye-catching, worth the purchase price for any mathematics classroom.

The Colorful Characters of Mathematics consists of 15 posters drawn in whimsical caricatures. The posters set includes a wide range of mathematicians from many different cultures: Diophantus, al-Khwarizmi, Chin Chi-shao, Tartaglia, Fermat, Banneker, Gauss, Galois, Carroll, Kovalevsky, Cantor, Hilbert, Ramanujan, Turing and Bourbaki. The biographical sketches on each poster accent events in the mathematicians’ life that middle and high school students will find compelling, such as Tartaglia's dispute with Cardano and Galois' last night. These posters are suitable for junior and senior high school mathematics classrooms. 

Art Johnson, Assistant Professor, Boston University