Robin Wilson is a mathematician and maths communicator whose latest book Sum Stories (Oxford University Press, Waterstones) came out in 2025.
Style
Each chapter of this book tells the story of one equation (or the story of a “sum”—hence the book’s title). These equations come from all over maths and the book is a really nice introduction to a wide range of areas of maths.
Control
The book is well written and would be understandable to most readers who are doing their GCSEs, or who remember what maths they did at GCSE.
Damage
While some of the stories in Sum Stories will be stories that you’ve heard before if you’ve read a lot of books, there are many included here that are not the usual well repeated stories, making this an excellent addition to any maths book collection.
Aggression
I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable and not too technical maths book.
You can vote for your favourite book on the Book of the Year shortlist below. The winning book will be crowned the Chalkdust Readers’ Choice. Voting closes at midday (GMT) on Wednesday 18 March 2026.
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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