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Althea’s Math Mysteries

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Welcome to Althea’s Math Mysteries!

The construction of Flower of Life in GeoGebra

Althea likes math.

  • When she asks one of her moms whether there’s a square root of -1, they start exploring the history and the math, in Althea and the Mystery of the Imaginary Numbers. 
  • That leads to Althea wanting to learn trigonometry so she can understand more of how complex numbers work. It’s summer and a few friends join her for that in Althea and the Mysteries of Triangles, Circles, and Pi. 
  • They want to keep playing, so they meet again in the fall, along with Althea’s younger brother and his buddy, for some adventures with infinity, in Althea and the Mysteries of Infinity. 
  • When covid hits, the big kids begin to explore calculus, in (no surprise) Althea and the Mysteries of Calculus.

A geometric construction that shows how the circumference can be approximated closer and closer with polygons.

Althea’s Math Mysteries follow Althea and her friends as they explore mathematics. Anyone who enjoys math and has a solid foundation of algebra can enjoy these books. Although they’re written as young adult novels, our adult readers are loving the adventures they have with Althea. Many wish they’d had these books when they were teens. 

Similar to other ‘math novels’ (like Math Girls, The Number Devil, and Surreal Numbers), the math is what drives the story. Throughout the book, you are invited to make your own way through the engaging mathematics that the characters are discussing. In addition to their dialogues, you can join in the mathematical thinking Althea is doing in her journals. You can also use the free apps the characters use to play around with geometric construction and graphing.

Sue VanHattum loves math, and has deeply enjoyed finding out more and more about Althea as these books have

developed. “Althea seems real to me. I love each of the characters. I hope you do too.” Sue is a retired community college math teacher who is now teaches a Beast Academy course. She has also run math circles, edited Playing With Math: Stories from Math Circles, Homeschoolers, and Passionate Teachers, and played with all sorts of math herself.

Sue VanHattum and Althea

 

Beta Readers Needed

We are looking for volunteers to test-read Althea and the Mysteries of Triangles, Circles, and Pi. If you are learning or preparing to learn trigonometry and would like a fun way to learn more, consider volunteering to be a beta reader.  To get a copy of the manuscript, so you can review it and give feedback, just email Sue VanHattum (the author) at altheasmathmysteries@gmail.com to request it.

Flower of Life design extended to many circles, each in a different color.

What we’d want from you:

  • Read as much of the story as you like.
  • Do as much of the math as you like.
  • Let us know whether you like it, whether you’d read other books in the Althea’s Math Mysteries series, and what you’d like changed in the book. (Are the characters well-developed? Is the math clear? What else?)

What you get:

  • A chance to learn differently.
  • An opportunity to read this delightful story before it’s published.
  • Your name in the book! We are very grateful for everyone in the community who supports the creation of our books. Your name, pseudonym, or organization will appear on the book’s page of thanks.
  • Certificates for volunteer service hours and teacher professional development credits are available upon request.

 

History

We ran an online course based on the book in 2024. The participants read the book and provided feedback. Many thanks to each of them! Course description.