
The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus
The Mathematics of Christmas
Abrams Books · Print & ebook · October 28, 2025
In The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus, two distinguished mathematicians explain, with humor and clarity, mathematical concepts through one very merry motif: Christmas.
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- Who it’s for
- Christmas traditions become a playful lens for exploring mathematical ideas, from game theory to matrices.
- Themes
- Mathematics in everyday life, Christmas traditions, Game theory
- Genres
- Mathematics, Humor, Math Recreations & Games
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In The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus, two distinguished mathematicians explain, with humor and clarity, mathematical concepts through one very merry motif: Christmas. Lighthearted and diverting with Christmasy diagrams, sketches and graphs, equations, Markov chains, and matrices, The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus brightens up the bleak midwinter with stockingsful of mathematical marvels.
Continue reading
How do you apply game theory to select who should be on your Christmas shopping list? What equations should you use to decorate the Christmas tree? Will calculations show Santa is getting steadily thinner—shimmying up and down chimneys for a whole night—or fatter—as he munches on cookies and milk in billions of houses across the world? In their quest to provide mathematical proof for the existence of Santa, the authors take readers on a festive journey through a traditional holiday season. Every activity, from wrapping presents to playing board games to cooking the perfect turkey, is analyzed through the lens of math. Because who hasn’t always wondered how to set up a mathematically perfect Secret Santa? This book belongs under your Christmas tree if you enjoy a spice of math in your eggnog.
Holiday Math, Clearly
Christmas traditions become a playful lens for exploring mathematical ideas, from game theory to matrices.
Come here for
- A merry meeting of mathematical concepts and familiar holiday rituals
- Questions about shopping lists, tree decorating, and Secret Santa
Expect
- Humor and clarity alongside diagrams, sketches, graphs, and equations
- Math applied to wrapping gifts, board games, and holiday cooking
Where it sits
| Humor | 75% |
|---|---|
| Mathematics | 34% |
| Math Recreations & Games | 32% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Puzzles
- Humor
- Mathematics
- Math Recreations & Games
Show all 6 publisher categories
- Mathematical Analysis
- Christmas & Advent
- Authors
- Thomas Oléron Evans, Hannah Fry
- Publisher
- Abrams Books
- Published
- October 28, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Mathematics in everyday life · Christmas traditions · Game theory
- Reading lane
- Puzzles