I heard Ellenberg's book described as a "Freakanomics for math." It is in the sense that Ellenberg weaves stories around challenging concepts and presents the math in a way that the reader both grasps and is entertained by. The stories are interesting as Ellenberg discusses how math was used in random bits of lesser known historical stories, such as fighter planes and world war two, and more recent stories examining how math can be used to significantly increase the odds of winning the lottery. If I had a better understanding growing up of how math can be beneficial in real practical applications, and not the problems created for standardized tests, I would have pushed toward continued study in college. The problem with math isn't math, it's how we teach it and how we talk about it's application in life and Ellenberg does an incredible job doing both for a broad audience.