We’re proud to announce that Robert Black’s mathematical biography Benoit Mandelbrot: Reshaping the World has been selected for the 2022 Best STEM Books list! The selection is a joint project of the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC).

Benoit Mandelbrot: Reshaping the World is an eye-opening biography that details the struggles of a young Polish Jew whose very life hung in uncertainty during the terror of the Holocaust. Despite incredible odds, Mandelbrot would go on to pave the mathematical way for animated movies, computer games, smartphone technology, and so much more by opening up the world of fractals.

This book—and all of the books in the Mathematical Lives series—helps children appreciate math on a more human level by showing them the people behind the math and how they came up with their ideas. They also offer a “Doing the Math” section to bring the stories full circle with chances for children to apply the mathematical concepts they read about in the books.

You can read Robert Black’s short blog post about these six mathematicians here.

The NSTA is a vibrant community of 40,000 science educators and professionals whose mission is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. The Children’s Book Council is the nonprofit trade association of children’s book publishers in North America, dedicated to supporting the industry and promoting children’s books and reading. It is an honor to be recognized by these respected organizations!

In addition to the six biographical novels in the Mathematical Lives series, Robert Black has written three delightful Mathematical Nights novels about a girl who moves to a new town only to discover that it’s situated near an otherworldly realm, and the creatures who cross over all have vexing math problems that they need her to help them solve.