We recently acquired two new juvenile biographies that explore the lives of two mathematics/scientists. “On A Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein” was written by Jennifer Berne and illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky. Berne has done an admirable job in telling the life story of man who gave the world so much insight into the complex universe and does it in a way that children can understand. Tracing his life from birth to old age, she explains Einstein’s early difficulties in school. In spite of this rocky start, Einstein never stopped questionning how the world worked. Radunsky’s illustrations complement the story. The drawings are funny and unfussy. His drawing of Einstein is a caricature , wiry hair and all, of the man who would be called a genius.
“The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos” is by Deborah Heiligman with pictures by LeUyen Pham. Erdos was an eccentric probably from his earliest years. He was catered to by his mother and governess to the extent that he could not as an adult do the simplest tasks like cooking his food or doing his laundry. Numbers were the only thing he cared about. Heiligman focuses on the accomplishments that Erdos achieved. His personal life, including the fact that he took amphetamines, is not discussed. Pham infuses each page with numbers and number symbols. Notes from the author and illustrator, at the end of the book , offer more in depth explanations of math theories. Any budding mathematician would find this an interesting story.