Eugenia Cheng， in The Joy of Abstraction， shows how the pragmatic uses of mathematical thinking does not preclude the fun of it。This is the third of her books that I have read and， as I have come to appreciate， it both taught me a great deal as well as entertained me。 No， not like a film might， more like when your mind begins to grasp something and it is entertained by how many ways there are to use that new information。 While Cheng says that How to Bake Pi isn't necessary for understanding this Eugenia Cheng， in The Joy of Abstraction， shows how the pragmatic uses of mathematical thinking does not preclude the fun of it。This is the third of her books that I have read and， as I have come to appreciate， it both taught me a great deal as well as entertained me。 No， not like a film might， more like when your mind begins to grasp something and it is entertained by how many ways there are to use that new information。 While Cheng says that How to Bake Pi isn't necessary for understanding this book， I can say I was glad I had read it。 I do agree， it isn't necessary， but it sure helped with my comfort level while reading this one。This is mathematics， but not like we learned in school。 This is engaging， creative， and， yes， fun。 This leads the reader to some new ways of thinking， mathematical thinking， that can affect every aspect of your life。 Her enthusiasm is contagious。Since this real math made more accessible for non-mathematicians， there will be sections that may require rereading。 The reward， however， is well worth the extra time to make sure you get the big picture。 That said， because the big picture is probably what most readers want， some sections can， I think， be skimmed without losing the view。 I also， at least for myself， think this will be a work that will get richer with subsequent readings。 My plan is to give it a couple of months to ferment in my mind then revisit it。Highly recommended for everyone from creative types to those in the mathematics-based fields （science and engineering as well as math）。 Since this is as much about mathematical thinking as it is category theory itself， the benefits go far beyond just learning about a field of mathematics。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more