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Rating: 4.2 / 5.0 (39 votes)

Released: 1995-04-06

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A Mathematician Reads The Newspaper by John Allen Paulos

Description

John Allen Paulos is a master at shedding mathematical lights on our everyday world:What exactly did Lani Guinier say about quotas?What is the probability of identifying a murderer through DNA testing?Which are the real risks to our health and which the phony ones?Employing the same fun-filled, user-friendly, and quirkily insightful approach that put Innumeracy on best-seller lists, Paulos now leads us through the pages of the daily newspaper, revealing the hidden mathematical angles of countless articles. From the Senate, the SATs, and sex to crime, celebrities, and cults, Paulos takes stories that may not seem to involve mathematics at all and demonstrates how mathematical naïveté can put readers at a distinct disadvantage.Whether he’s using chaos theory to puncture economic and environmental predictions, applying logic and self-reference to clarify the hazards of spin doctoring and news compression, or employing arithmetic and common sense to give us a novel perspective on greed and relationships, Paulos never fails to entertain and enlighten.Even if you hated math in school, you’ll love the numerical vignettes in this book.
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Editorial Review

In this book the author of Innumeracy : Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences reveals the hidden mathematical angles in countless media stories. His real life perspective on the statistics we rely on and how they can mislead is for anyone interested in gaining a more accurate view of their world. The book is written with a humorous and knowledgeable style that makes it great reading.

Book Details

Author: John Allen PaulosPublisher: Basic BooksBinding: HardcoverLanguage: EnglishPages: 224

Similar Books

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
How to Lie with Statistics
Beyond Numeracy
Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man


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