# Books, sites, guides about mental arithmetic by hand and tricks?

Please recommends books I can get, from amazon? I need to get really good at mental math and math by hand, because I'm taking an exam soon without a calculator.

One classic text is The Trachtenberg Speed System, which actually has an amazing history: Trachtenberg created the tools for the book (speed mathematics, including multiplication) while in a Nazi concentration camp, without the use of paper or a writing utensil.

The Wikipedia page gives a pretty good overview of the book, and there is a bit about Jakow Trachtenberg on Wikipedia as well.

p.s. Don't let the \$91 price on Amazon.com worry you; you can find many used copies for less than \$10.

• I got the kindle edition. – Algific Jul 31 '11 at 20:43
• This was magic, can't believe I didn't learn this in school. Thanks. – Algific Aug 1 '11 at 4:35
• @Algific -- glad you liked it. I didn't know there was a Kindle edition. – Chris Gregg Aug 1 '11 at 13:54
• Glad to hear that it's still available. I have a very old copy. – DanielWainfleet Sep 16 '15 at 22:32

If you're looking for books about rapid arithmetic calculations, then these two books might be what you're looking for. They are Speed Mathematics and Short-Cut Math, which will cost you less than \$15 for the both of them from Amazon. I bought them for my little sister a few years ago, since she wanted to learn some mental math tricks, and she said that they were both pretty good.

• I also need to do multiplication and division with decimal numbers by hand, is that also in those books? – Algific Jul 31 '11 at 19:28
• I believe they did. They had everything that she had been interested in learning and I'm sure that included decimal multiplication/division. – Michael Banaszek Jul 31 '11 at 19:35

There is also "Secrets of Mental Math" by Arthur Benjamin.

The best book for mental math and math by hand is Vedic Mathematics by Bharati Krsna Tirthaji. Just search in Google and Amazon.

On the website http://www.math-magic.com/ you can find some tricks for mental arithmetic.

They are divided into various categories, like Multiplying numbers, Multiplying strategies, Basic memorization, etc.