Picking a website on the Internet is, in many ways, like choosing the right book at the bookstore. Some vie for visual attention with their exotic covers, some titles promise an adrenaline rush while some others scream ?international bestseller? to assert their position. But for the booklover, a quick read of the back cover, a brief flip through the pages, and a little glance at the introduction are enough to assess a book?s true worth.

The wooing code remains the same for websites, but Internet buffs have a more difficult job on their hands for their contents aren?t easy to assess with the numerous links they carry. The secret, really, is a neat, sleek and professional homepage with a succinct summary of its contents and an intelligent layout ? one reason why ?Illuminations? will attract you even if it?s a maths website and you are a born maths-hater.

At http://illuminations.nctm.org, it?s business right away. But you aren?t intimidated by a barrage of theorems and formulae right from the beginning. Instead, a couple of links named ?Lessons? and ?Activities? lead to a lot of fun, and some serious maths. The site has 62 online activities for students that have been designed to explain mathematical theories through practical demonstrations.

?Lessons? connects you to 484 online exercises. You can access lessons in measurement, algebra, geometry, data analysis and probability and number and operations. Each lesson is designed like a case study where you are introduced to a problem, taken through the steps to solve it and then asked to do it yourself.

And if you need more help, click on ?Web Links? and watch a wealth of maths links open out before you.

Saikat Dasgupta

saikatdasgupta@abpmail.com