Publisher's note: It's a Numberful World was published in Australia under the title Woo's Wonderful World of Maths.

• Why is a rainbow curved?
• Why aren't left-handers extinct?
• How is a sunflower like a synchronized swimmer?
• What makes 2.718 a magic number?

These may not look like math questions at first glance--but they are, because they all have to do with patterns. And mathematics, at heart, is the study of patterns--from familiar shapes and symmetries, to mysterious values like the golden ratio, which seem to crop up wherever you look for them.

Looking for patterns changed Eddie Woo's life--by turning the "dry" subject he had dreaded in high school into a boundless exploration suffused with joy. Today, he's an award-winning math teacher, and now, he's here to win you over, too. Here are 26 bite-size chapters on Woo's favorite mathematical marvels--from the synchronized sine waves we hear as "music," to the immense prime numbers (once a mere curiosity) that are now essential to data encryption.

This book will change your mind about what math can be. We are all born mathematicians--and It's a Numberful World