Penguin Press has signed a new book from comedian and mathematician Matt Parker after a nine-publisher auction, where all bids were made in prime...

Penguin Press has signed a new book from comedian and mathematician Matt Parker after a nine-publisher auction, where all bids were made in prime numbers, numbers derived from pi, and other mathematical figures.

UK and Commonwealth rights to Things To Make And Do In The Fourth Dimension were ultimately won by Helen Conford at Penguin Press, in a deal brokered by Will Francis at Janklow & Nesbit.

The book is pitched as an alternative maths lesson, with activities and thought experiments helping people go beyond the classroom to make calculators out of dominoes and see what soap bubbles have to do with calculus.

Matt Parker writes about maths for the Guardian and the Telegraph, and is a regular panelist and presenter on BBC Radio 4 programmes such as "The Infinite Monkey Cage".