I picked up this book to read with the goal of understanding mathematics, and I finished reading it feeling like I had failed miserably at that. But I dare say it wasn’t my fault.

Written by David Bessis, Mathematica is as hard to read as the formula-filled math books that the author himself criticizes. The book’s purpose was to demystify the teaching of mathematics by explaining how to intuitively understand the concepts behind equations and nomenclature, creating analogies and comparisons along the way. At times, the author brings up interesting points, such as the part where he describes and updates the “cognition systems,” presenting intuition, reason, and “meditation,” and how to interact with these systems to build an understanding of mathematical objects. And at certain points, the author even brings up some exercises and attitudes that are truly practical, presenting useful tools for studying subjects in general.

The problem is that the practical knowledge is lost amidst pages and pages of biographies of mathematicians and himself, in addition to many digressions and constant repetitions. The book is almost an autobiography, more than proposing a new approach to the study of mathematics. There are twenty chapters and I could barely condense practical information to finish one; it was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Anyway, Mathematica is interesting as a point of philosophical discussion about mathematics, and even as a tool for reflection on the act of studying itself. But I found it weak in what really interested me, which is providing tools to practice abstraction and understanding of mathematics. It is worth a leisurely read, if you have the patience.