How to Solve It by George Pólya
Published 1945 · 65,000 words · about 5 hours at an average pace · Education & Reference, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science & Nature
How hard is How to Solve It to read?
How to Solve It scores 30 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 35 out of 100
- Mathematical terminology. Clear pedagogical style.
- Sentence structure: 30 out of 100
- Abstraction: 50 out of 100
- Abstract heuristics illustrated through mathematical problems.
- Information density: 52 out of 100
- Dense with examples, heuristics, and mathematical reasoning.
- Narrative indirection: 80 out of 100
- Direct, instructional format.
- Symbolic density: 100 out of 100
- Mathematical notation. Analytical.
- Ironic distance: 50 out of 100
- Earnest, pedagogical tone.
- Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
- Solutions provided. Teaching format.
- Structural complexity: 28 out of 100
- Dictionary-like organization with cross-references.
How How to Solve It is regarded
How to Solve It holds a literary regard score of 61 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.