Just launched! A problem book for middle school and precalculus mathematics. Published by Hem Aunty Publications.

They say that mathematics is learnt by doing mathematics. But for the middle school and high school level, there are very few books which contain problems that illustrate what it means to do mathematics. This book is in the tradition of mathematics Problem Books. By trying the problems on your own, and then comparing your solutions with those given, you (or your child) will learn how to think mathematically. It will give you a mathematical experience.

Here is what Hartosh Singh Bal, Editor of the Caravan, and author of the mathematical novel, A Certain Ambiguity, says:

“You cannot be a dancer without dancing, or a painter without picking up a brush. Similarly, the art of mathematics is learned through practice—by solving problems. But not all problems are equal, and the skill of posing the right ones is a rare art. With this book in hand, and a pencil at the ready, readers will quickly discover that Gaurav is a master of this craft. The joy of mathematics comes alive here, offering the best beginnings for those who have never experienced it.“

Click here to view/download the PDF File

You can buy the book from hemaunty.org.

The book is dedicated to Saroj Bala Malik, my teacher from Hindu College. Read about her in my interview in Annulus, the magazine run by the Mathematics Society in Hindu College.

I thank Professor Richard Askey in this book. At the time I was writing the book, he was interested in high school mathematics. I sent him the draft. After many months, I received two long emails from him, containing a large number of comments and suggestions. Dick is no more. Read what I wrote for him in a friendship book here. Click here, for the full blog post and a picture.

There is an interesting story associated with this book. I used to write a column called Experience Mathematics, for East Delhi Times, an advertisment only, weekly, newspaper taken out by a friend. This paper was distributed for free in the neighborhood. After the first column was published, a young boy, studying in Class 8 in Sardar Patel Vidhyalaya, came in a rickshaw with his grandfather, and left me his detailed solutions. Of course I mentioned his solutions in the next column, and then more children started corresponding with me. Eventually, many of them came to my garage for problem solving sessions. After many, many years, my colleague and friend, Guhan Venkat mentioned that this young boy was his classmate in IISER, Pune. What is he doing now, I asked? It turns out that he finished his Ph.D. in Princeton (in Physics) and was joining IIT, Delhi on a tenure track position. His name is Sarthak Parikh. You can read about him here. This book began as a collection of articles from this column. (The original articles appear on this website, too.)

The launch date of the book is January 25, 2025. This day is special. This is the day my mother, Hem Bhatnagar, left us, in 2022. From the day of her retirement, until she died, she wrote, illustrated, produced and published over a 100 books, most of them for children. Her books are all available (as free downloads, and also in print form) from www.hemaunty.org. For more information about her life, you can visit www.hemaunty.in.