7 Most Popular Mental Math and Speed Mathematics Books

My article on Increase Your Mind Power – Use Mental Math Tricks is one of the most popular articles on this blog. If you want more information on this subject, there are some great books written on mental math tricks, math shortcuts and speed mathematics. These books should help you to do math much more quickly than you do now. For every book I have given some comments from customers at Amazon.com and a short conclusion. Share your opinion on these books or any other books you know of in the comments below.

1 – Secrets of Mental Math

Full title: Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician’s Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks
by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer

Actual comments from readers at Amazon.com:

• “It gets right to the point. It’s very well written. It’s fun. It’s practical. And as long as you take your time to mentally practice what you’re learning along the way, you can and should be able to master the techniques in this book.”
• “I recommend this book for those who never felt they got the hang of math as well as people who love it like I do. It is clearly written, very encouraging and has lots of drills.”
• “As a trained scientist and a professional magician I was interested in the contents, and was not disappointed. Great stuff here for impressing people, and useful techniques for making maths fun.”
• “This book teaches you a few principles to do arithmetics in your head but they are contained in the first two chapters on addition/subtraction and multiplication. Most of the rest of the books are about the same principles but applying to bigger numbers. Doing this requires keeping track of partial results in your head and combine them in the end. I don’t see a point of training my short term memory for this because I am not paid to perform such mathematical tricks daily, not to mention my answers will not be as reliable as a $5.00 calculator. In a nutshell, the author might as well explain the principles in 3 pages. The readers’ interest and motivation to improve short term memory will determine how much you can do mental math.”
• “It’s worth purchasing because the shortcuts aren’t anywhere else on the Internet. (I think the author actually discovered some of the mathematical shortcuts, himself). One word of caution: make sure you feel comfortable with each technique before moving on. I didn’t do this the first run through, and had to go back.”

Conclusion: the most popular book on mental math. Practical, well written and fun.


Buy Secrets of Mental Math at Amazon.com

2 – Speed Mathematics

Full title: Speed Mathematic: Secret Skills for Quick Calculation
by Bill Handley

Actual comments of readers at Amazon.com:

• “The book is very good in teaching what Handley calls the reference number method for multiplication. But I think the average reader would have difficulty following some of the explanations for both division methods.”
• “I found the topics enjoyable to read and the explanations quite clearly presented.”

Conclusion: one of the most popular books on speed mathematics. The skills may not be so secret, but this seems like a great book to learn techniques for mental math and speed mathematics.


Buy Speed Mathematics at Amazon.com

3 – Short-Cut Math

by Gerard W. Kelly

Actual comments of readers at Amazon.com:

• “Its simple, clean-cut approach to finding easy solutions to everyday math problems should be a tremendous help to everyone who reads it.”
• “This book is exceptionally well written. Each problem is worked out or resolved completely.”
• “Being slightly math phobic, I have always tried to find easier ways to solve math problems. This book gave my current methods credibility and gave me new ideas and methods to try.”
• “I liked this book because it showed me how to approach simple math problems in flexible ways. In short, the techniques were like many algebra problems I had dealt with; if you don’t like the form or layout of a problem, change it to something simpler or nicer or else think of it in a different way.”

Conclusion: more about shortcuts than mental math, but full of techniques to solve math problems in flexible ways.


Buy Short-Cut Math at Amazon.com

4 – Arithmetricks

Full title: Arithmetricks: 50 Easy Ways to Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide Without a Calculator
by Edward H. Julius

Actual comments of readers at Amazon.com:

• “I plan on using this book to enhance my students mental math abilities. This book is a great way to do the mental math and focus on that higher order thinking. This book is organized well, and is well-suited for classroom use. There were many tricks that I didn’t even know existed and everything is still based on basic math. This can work from the slowest to the most advanced learner.”
• “The math tricks are very cool and easy to understand. This book is awesome for people of all ages.”

Conclusion: a good book for beginners and advanced.


Buy Arithmetricks at Amazon.com

5 – Speed Mathematics Simplified

by Edward Stoddard

Actual comments of readers at Amazon.com:

• “It is the first unified speed math concept book that teaches a fast way to do mental calculations without memorizing a multitude of various rules for specific mathematical situations. After reading this, I have stopped searching for any further speed math books because i doubt any could compare.”
• “I, as a math teacher, wish more students were taught this way. The simplicity of the methods, once mastered, generates an ease and accuracy of computation that is simply amazing to behold.”
• “I found this book fun reading but a more practical book covering the same ground is Handley’s SPEED MATHEMATICS.”

Conclusion: good book, but perhaps a bit dated.


Buy Speed Mathematics Simplified at Amazon.com

6 – Speed Mathematics Using the Vedic System

by Vali Nasser

Actual comments of readers at Amazon.com:

• “A good resource for teachers and parents. Smart children with an interest in speedy number crunching will find it beneficial too. A good book which is relatively easy to follow. However, be prepared to spend a few weeks to master the different techniques before you start showing off your new mental arithmetical skills!”
• “It compares well with other books on speed mathematics. Its main concentration is on arithmetic and algebra and is suitable for children from 11- 16 years of age. Easy to understand and well written.”

Conclusion: not for the advanced, but you could definitely pick up some techniques with this book.


Buy Speed Mathematics Using the Vedic System at Amazon.com

7 – Rapid Math Tricks & Tips

Full title: Rapid Math Tricks & Tips: 30 Days to Number Power
by Edward H. Julius

Actual comments of readers at Amazon.com:

• “The various methods are interesting but most of them are not very practical for everyday calculation since most are special cases rather than general applications. For successful use they also require instant recall of the basic number facts and there is no hint as to how this can be accomplished.”
• “Once you start reading this book, you will be hooked with it, and with your recent ability to make fast simple calculations. But lets keep it real, this is just a collection of tricks and shortcuts for arithmetic operations (+, -, x, /) you won’t become an expert mathematician, but you will enjoy math a lot more.”

Conclusion: this book will not make you a mathematical wizard in 30 days, but could be useful to learn some new methods in speed mathematics.


Buy Rapid Math Tricks & Tips at Amazon.com

Bonus: Fun With Figures

And after the top 7, here is a bonus number 8. This book is not available at Amazon.com, but only as a digital download at FunWithFigures.com. The full title is: “Fun With Figures. Is it Magic or Magic? Brilliant Mental Math Short Cuts That Will Amaze Anyone!”


User comments from the website:

• “I was up until 2 o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t put the book down, it is compulsive!”
• “Fun with Figures is the most informative and fun math program I’ve ever had. In a short time I had much improvement after a lifetime of poor math skills. I’m fifty one years old and didn’t expect to be learning so much and having fun doing it!”

Conclusion: for this price of a single book, you get a full course in mental math. Looks promising.


Buy Fun With Figures

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