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A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender

Eugenia ChengBasic Books • 2020

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by David Meyer

Dr. Eugenia Cheng applies mathematics, logic and common sense to transcend gender stereotypes.

An honorary visiting fellow at City University in London, Eugenia Cheng is also a scientist in residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Teaching for years in the male-dominated mathematics arena revealed deep inequities to Cheng, setting her on a new career path to prove the fallacy of academia’s bias against women in math and science. Cheng combines elegant mathematical formulas, original thinking and piercing insights to illustrate why transcending gender stereotypes creates a more equitable, productive, cooperative society.  

The New York Times Book Review said that Cheng’s “tone is clear, clever and friendly…she is rigorous and insightful…a lucid and nimble expositor.” The New York Times reviewer who wrote about Cheng’s book How to Bake π wrote, “Dr. Cheng…has a knack for brushing aside conventions and edicts, like so many pie crumbs from a cutting board.”


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