ZOMBIES AND CALCULUS by Colin Adams

Colin Adams, Zombies and Calculus (Princeton University Press, 2014).

Also available for Nook and Kindle.

(FICTION - WITH A LARGE DOSE OF NONFICTION)

Reviewed by Edgar E. Morris

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I just finished reading a book titled Zombies & Calculus, by Colin Adams. On the other hand, the book is published by Princeton University Press, so I suppose I should be in pretty respectable company. Wilda checked the book out of the library to review it as a possible Christmas gift for one of our grandchildren and left it in the bathroom. I read the entire book (all 224 pages) in the bathroom over the course of several visits. After reading part of the first chapter, I kept going. For me the hook was the calculus.

The story begins when a student arrives late for Professor Williams’ math class with, as stated in the book, a hunger for something other than knowledge. The student has apparently been infected with the Z-virus (Z for zombie, get it!?) and immediately bites another student, thus contributing to the spread of the virus on the campus of the small liberal arts college where Williams is teaching. The story is rather amusing and is frequently interrupted by forays into the mathematical description of the spread of viruses, the growth of populations, the behavior of predators and prey, etc.

For someone who has a pretty good grasp of calculus, all the mathematical content is easily understood, and for the most part familiar. If the reader has never been exposed to the basic concepts of calculus, the reader must really enjoy stories about zombies not to be frustrated by the lack of understanding of the mathematical ideas.