It’s time to announce the shortlist for the Chalkdust Magazine Book of the Year award. One maths book that was published in 2025 will be joining the previous winners by receiving this prestigious award.
Additionally, you—our readers—can vote for your favourite book on the shortlist, by completing the poll at the bottom of this page.
We have picked seven maths-themed books released in 2025 to be on our shortlist for the prize. These are (in alphabetical order):
The 2025 shortlist
- Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty by Adam Kucharski
- Unequal: The Maths of When Things Do (and Don’t) Add Up by Eugenia Cheng
- The Mathematics of Origami by Joseph O’Rourke
- Think Like a Mathematician by Junaid Mubeen
- Sum Stories: Equations and Their Origins by Robin Wilson
- A Little History of Mathematics by Snezana Lawrence
- The Mathematician’s Library by Thomas K Briggs
These books are all very good, but we can only pick one winner of the prize. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be posting reviews of each of these books, including notes relating to our four judging criteria—style, control, damage, and aggression.
Lines are now open for you to vote for your favourite book on the shortlist (see below). Voting closes at midday (GMT) on Wednesday 18 March 2026.
The winner of the Chalkdust Magazine Book of the Year 2025, plus the winner of our readers’ vote, will be announced in issue 23.
What is your favourite book on the 2025 Book of the Year shortlist?
- The Mathematician's Library by Thomas K Briggs (50%, 236 Votes)
- Unequal: The Maths of When Things Do (and Don't) Add Up by Eugenia Cheng (40%, 192 Votes)
- Think Like a Mathematician by Junaid Mubeen (4%, 18 Votes)
- The Mathematics of Origami by Joseph O'Rourke (2%, 11 Votes)
- Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty by Adam Kucharski (1%, 7 Votes)
- Sum Stories: Equations and Their Origins by Robin Wilson (1%, 6 Votes)
- A Little History of Mathematics by Snezana Lawrence (1%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 475
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Chalkdust issue 23 – Coming 20 April
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Think Like a Mathematician
We review the seventh and last of this year’s nominees for Book of the Year
Unequal
We review the sixth of this year’s nominees for Book of the Year
Sum Stories
We review the fifth of this year’s nominees for Book of the Year
A Little History of Mathematics
We review the fourth of this year's nominees for Book of the Year
The Mathematics of Origami
We review the third of this year’s nominees for Book of the Year