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| john allen paulos: Innumeracy John Allen Paulos, 1988 Portion of edition statement from Contents. |
| john allen paulos: Beyond Numeracy John Allen Paulos, 2013-05-29 From the author of the national bestseller Innumeracy, a delightful exploration and explanation of mathematical concepts from algebra to zero in easily accessible alphabetical entries. Paulos . . . does for mathematics what The Joy of Sex did for the boudoir. . . .--Washington Post Book World. First time in paperback. |
| john allen paulos: A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper John Allen Paulos, 2013-09-10 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 naïtéan 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. |
| john allen paulos: Mathematics and Humor John Allen Paulos, 2008-08-04 John Allen Paulos cleverly scrutinizes the mathematical structures of jokes, puns, paradoxes, spoonerisms, riddles, and other forms of humor, drawing examples from such sources as Rabelais, Shakespeare, James Beattie, René Thom, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Koestler, W. C. Fields, and Woody Allen. Jokes, paradoxes, riddles, and the art of non-sequitur are revealed with great perception and insight in this illuminating account of the relationship between humor and mathematics.—Joseph Williams, New York Times 'Leave your mind alone,' said a Thurber cartoon, and a really complete and convincing analysis of what humour is might spoil all jokes forever. This book avoids that danger. What it does. . .is describe broadly several kinds of mathematical theory and apply them to throw sidelights on how many kinds of jokes work.—New Scientist Many scholars nowadays write seriously about the ludicrous. Some merely manage to be dull. A few—like Paulos—are brilliant in an odd endeavor.—Los Angeles Times Book Review |
| john allen paulos: A Mathematician Plays The Stock Market John Allen Paulos, 2007-10-11 Can a renowned mathematician successfully outwit the stock market? Not when his biggest investment is WorldCom. In A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market , best-selling author John Allen Paulos employs his trademark stories, vignettes, paradoxes, and puzzles to address every thinking reader's curiosity about the market -- Is it efficient? Is it random? Is there anything to technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and other supposedly time-tested methods of picking stocks? How can one quantify risk? What are the most common scams? Are there any approaches to investing that truly outperform the major indexes? But Paulos's tour through the irrational exuberance of market mathematics doesn't end there. An unrequited (and financially disastrous) love affair with WorldCom leads Paulos to question some cherished ideas of personal finance. He explains why data mining is a self-fulfilling belief, why momentum investing is nothing more than herd behavior with a lot of mathematical jargon added, why the ever-popular Elliot Wave Theory cannot be correct, and why you should take Warren Buffet's fundamental analysis with a grain of salt. Like Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street , this clever and illuminating book is for anyone, investor or not, who follows the markets -- or knows someone who does. |
| john allen paulos: Irreligion John Allen Paulos, 2009-06-09 Are there any logical reasons to believe in God? Mathematician and bestselling author Paulos thinks not. In Irreligion he presents the case for his own worldview, organizing his book into 12 chapters that refute the 12 arguments most often put forward for believing in Gods existence. |
| john allen paulos: I Think, Therefore I Laugh John Allen Paulos, 2001 Inspired by Wittgenstein's quip that a book on philosophy might consist entirely of jokes I Think, Therefore I Laugh explores topics such as misunderstandings of mathematics and science and of the relation between them, pseudo-science and its appeal, the uses and misuses of probability and statistics, humour and higher order endeavours and the interplay between narrative and numbers. This is a new edition of John Allen Paulos' second of six books and fans will recognise themes he later went on to pursue in other words. |
| john allen paulos: Once Upon A Number John Allen Paulos, 2008-08-04 What two things could be more different than numbers and stories? Numbers are abstract, certain, and eternal, but to most of us somewhat dry and bloodless. Good stories are full of life: they engage our emotions and have subtlety and nuance, but they lack rigor and the truths they tell are elusive and subject to debate. As ways of understanding the world around us, numbers and stories seem almost completely incompatible. Once Upon a Number shows that stories and numbers aren't as different as you might imagine, and in fact they have surprising and fascinating connections. The concepts of logic and probability both grew out of intuitive ideas about how certain situations would play out. Now, logicians are inventing ways to deal with real world situations by mathematical means -- by acknowledging, for instance, that items that are mathematically interchangeable may not be interchangeable in a story. And complexity theory looks at both number strings and narrative strings in remarkably similar terms. Throughout, renowned author John Paulos mixes numbers and narratives in his own delightful style. Along with lucid accounts of cutting-edge information theory we get hilarious anecdotes and jokes; instructions for running a truly impressive pyramid scam; a freewheeling conversation between Groucho Marx and Bertrand Russell (while they're stuck in an elevator together); explanations of why the statistical evidence against OJ Simpson was overwhelming beyond doubt and how the Unabomber's thinking shows signs of mathematical training; and dozens of other treats. This is another winner from America's favorite mathematician. |
| john allen paulos: Introduction to Calculus and Classical Analysis Omar Hijab, 2011-03-19 This text is intended for an honors calculus course or for an introduction to analysis. Involving rigorous analysis, computational dexterity, and a breadth of applications, it is ideal for undergraduate majors. This third edition includes corrections as well as some additional material. Some features of the text: The text is completely self-contained and starts with the real number axioms; The integral is defined as the area under the graph, while the area is defined for every subset of the plane; There is a heavy emphasison computational problems, from the high-school quadratic formula to the formula for the derivative of the zeta function at zero; There are applications from many parts of analysis, e.g., convexity, the Cantor set, continued fractions, the AGM, the theta and zeta functions, transcendental numbers, the Bessel and gamma functions, and many more; Traditionally transcendentally presented material, such as infinite products, the Bernoulli series, and the zeta functional equation, is developed over the reals; There are 385 problems with all the solutions at the back of the text. |
| john allen paulos: Political Numeracy Michael Meyerson, 2002 From the impossibility of a perfectly democratic vote to a clarifying model for affirmative action debates, constitutional law professor and math enthusiast Michael Meyerson provides an engaging and unusual perspective on the no-man's land between mathematics and the law (John Allen Paulos). In thoroughly accessible and entertaining terms, Meyerson shows how the principle of probability influenced the outcomes of the O. J. Simpson trials; makes a convincing case for the mathematical virtues of the electoral college; uses game theory to explain the federal government's shifting balance of power; relates the concept of infinity to the heated abortion debate; and uses topology and chaos theory to explain how our Constitution has successfully survived social and political change. |
| john allen paulos: Lewis Carroll in Numberland Robin Wilson, 2008-07-30 Lewis Carroll's books have delighted children and adults for generations, but behind their exuberant fantasy and delightful nonsense was the mind of a brilliant mathematician. Now his forgotten achievements in the world of numbers are brought to light by acclaimed author and mathematician Robin Wilson. Here he explores the curious imagination of a man whose pioneering work at Oxford University included investigations into voting patterns and tennis seeding, who dreamt up numerical conundrums in bed at night and who filled his writings with problems, paradoxes, puzzles and teasing games of logic. Taking us into a world of mock turtles and maps, gryphons and gravity, Lewis Carroll in Numberland reveals the singular mind of a genius. |
| john allen paulos: Beyond Numeracy John Allen Paulos, 1992-04-07 From the author of the national bestseller Innumeracy, a delightful exploration and explanation of mathematical concepts from algebra to zero in easily accessible alphabetical entries. Paulos . . . does for mathematics what The Joy of Sex did for the boudoir. . . .--Washington Post Book World. First time in paperback. |
| john allen paulos: The One Percent Doctrine Ron Suskind, 2008-09-04 In his devastating new book Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind takes readers inside the defining conflict of our era: the war between the West and a growing, shadowy army of terrorists, armed with weapons of alarming power. Relying on unique access to former and current government officials, this book will reveal for the first time how the US government -- from President Bush on down -- is frantically improvising to fight a new kind of war. Where is the enemy? What have been the real victories and defeats since 9/11? How are we actually fighting this war and how can it possibly be won? Filled with astonishing disclosures, Suskind's book shows readers what he calls the invisible battlefield -- a global matrix where US spies race to catch soldiers of jihad before they strike. It is a real-life spy thriller with the world's future at stake. It also reveals the shocking and secret philosophy underpinning the war on terror. Gripping and alarming in equal measure, it will reframe the debate about a war that, each day, redefines America and its place in the world. |
| john allen paulos: Elementary Number Theory in Nine Chapters James J. Tattersall, 1999-10-14 This book is intended to serve as a one-semester introductory course in number theory. Throughout the book a historical perspective has been adopted and emphasis is given to some of the subject's applied aspects; in particular the field of cryptography is highlighted. At the heart of the book are the major number theoretic accomplishments of Euclid, Fermat, Gauss, Legendre, and Euler, and to fully illustrate the properties of numbers and concepts developed in the text, a wealth of exercises have been included. It is assumed that the reader will have 'pencil in hand' and ready access to a calculator or computer. For students new to number theory, whatever their background, this is a stimulating and entertaining introduction to the subject. |
| john allen paulos: The Sunne In Splendour Sharon Kay Penman, 2008-01-22 The classic, magnificent bestselling novel about Richard III, now in a special thirtieth anniversary edition with a new preface by the author In this triumphant combination of scholarship and storytelling, Sharon Kay Penman redeems Richard III—vilified as the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes in the Tower—from his maligned place in history. Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning. With revisions throughout and a new author's preface discussing the astonishing discovery of Richard's remains five centuries after his death, Sharon Kay Penman's brilliant classic is more powerful and glorious than ever. |
| john allen paulos: The Mathematical Universe William Dunham, 1994-08-16 Dunham writes for nonspecialists, and they will enjoy his piquantanecdotes and amusing asides -- Booklist Artfully, Dunham conducts a tour of the mathematical universe. . .he believes these ideas to be accessible to the audience he wantsto reach, and he writes so that they are. -- Nature If you want to encourage anyone's interest in math, get them TheMathematical Universe. * New Scientist |
| john allen paulos: A Mathematician Plays the Market John Allen Paulos, 2004 Paulos offers a hillarious account of how the stock market both follows and defies mathematical principals. He offers an enagaing overview of everything from betas to the efficient market hypothesis. |
| john allen paulos: The Theory That Would Not Die Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, 2011-05-17 This account of how a once reviled theory, Baye’s rule, came to underpin modern life is both approachable and engrossing (Sunday Times). A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Bayes' rule appears to be a straightforward, one-line theorem: by updating our initial beliefs with objective new information, we get a new and improved belief. To its adherents, it is an elegant statement about learning from experience. To its opponents, it is subjectivity run amok. In the first-ever account of Bayes' rule for general readers, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores this controversial theorem and the generations-long human drama surrounding it. McGrayne traces the rule’s discovery by an 18th century amateur mathematician through its development by French scientist Pierre Simon Laplace. She reveals why respected statisticians rendered it professionally taboo for 150 years—while practitioners relied on it to solve crises involving great uncertainty and scanty information, such as Alan Turing's work breaking Germany's Enigma code during World War II. McGrayne also explains how the advent of computer technology in the 1980s proved to be a game-changer. Today, Bayes' rule is used everywhere from DNA de-coding to Homeland Security. Drawing on primary source material and interviews with statisticians and other scientists, The Theory That Would Not Die is the riveting account of how a seemingly simple theorem ignited one of the greatest controversies of all time. |
| john allen paulos: The Unknowable Gregory J. Chaitin, 1999-07-01 This essential companion to Chaitins highly successful The Limits of Mathematics, gives a brilliant historical survey of important work on the foundations of mathematics. The Unknowable is a very readable introduction to Chaitins ideas, and includes software (on the authors website) that will enable users to interact with the authors proofs. Chaitins new book, The Unknowable, is a welcome addition to his oeuvre. In it he manages to bring his amazingly seminal insights to the attention of a much larger audience His work has deserved such treatment for a long time. JOHN ALLEN PAULOS, AUTHOR OF ONCE UPON A NUMBER |
| john allen paulos: The Dream Machine M. Mitchell Waldrop, 2018-09-25 The story of the man who instigated the work that led to the internet—and shifted our understanding of what computers could be. Behind every great revolution is a vision and behind perhaps the greatest revolution of our time, personal computing, is the vision of J.C.R. Licklider. He did not design the first personal computers or write the software that ran on them, nor was he involved in the legendary early companies that brought them to the forefront of our everyday experience. He was instead a relentless visionary that saw the potential of the way individuals could interact with computers and software. At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data processors, Licklider was writing treatises on human-computer symbiosis, computers as communication devices, and a now not-so-unfamiliar Intergalactic Network. His ideas became so influential, his passion so contagious, that Waldrop called him computing's Johnny Appleseed. In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive historical exposition, Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be. Included in this edition are also the original texts of Licklider's three most influential writings: 'Man-computer symbiosis' (1960), which outlines the vision that inspired the personal computer revolution of the 1970s; his 'Intergalactic Network' memo (1963), which outlines the vision that inspired the internet; and The computer as a communication device (1968, co-authored with Robert Taylor), which amplifies his vision for what the network could become. |
| john allen paulos: Struck by Lightning Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, 2006-04-28 From terrorist attacks to big money jackpots, Struck by Lightning deconstructs the odds and oddities of chance, examining both the relevant and irreverent role of randomness in our everyday lives. Human beings have long been both fascinated and appalled by randomness. On the one hand, we love the thrill of a surprise party, the unpredictability of a budding romance, or the freedom of not knowing what tomorrow will bring. We are inexplicably delighted by strange coincidences and striking similarities. But we also hate uncertainty's dark side. From cancer to SARS, diseases strike with no apparent pattern. Terrorists attack, airplanes crash, bridges collapse, and we never know if we'll be that one in a million statistic. We are all constantly faced with situations and choices that involve randomness and uncertainty. A basic understanding of the rules of probability theory, applied to real-life circumstances, can help us to make sense of these situations, to avoid unnecessary fear, to seize the opportunities that randomness presents to us, and to actually enjoy the uncertainties we face. The reality is that when it comes to randomness, you can run, but you can't hide. So many aspects of our lives are governed by events that are simply not in our control. In this entertaining yet sophisticated look at the world of probabilities, author Jeffrey Rosenthal-an improbably talented math professor-explains the mechanics of randomness and teaches us how to develop an informed perspective on probability. |
| john allen paulos: The Number Devil Hans Magnus Enzensberger, 2000-05-01 The international best-seller that makes mathematics a thrilling exploration In twelve dreams, Robert, a boy who hates math, meets a Number Devil, who leads him to discover the amazing world of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that magically appear in triangles, and numbers that expand without . As we dream with him, we are taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone-from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads-winds up marveling at what numbers can do. Hans Magnus Enzensberger is a true polymath, the kind of superb intellectual who loves thinking and marshals all of his charm and wit to share his passions with the world. In The Number Devil, he brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach it to them. |
| john allen paulos: The Gentle Art of Mathematics Dan Pedoe, 2012-12-27 This lighthearted work uses a variety of practical applications and puzzles to take a look at today's mathematical trends. In nine chapters, Professor Pedoe covers mathematical games, chance and choice, automatic thinking, and more. |
| john allen paulos: The Math Myth Andrew Hacker, 2018-04-03 Andrew Hacker's 2012 New York Times op-ed questioning our current mathematics requirements instantly became one of the the paper's most widely circulated articles. Why, he wondered, do we inflict algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and even calculus on all young Americans, regardless of their interests or aptitudes? The Math Myth expands Hacker's scrutiny of many widely held assumptions, such as the notion that mathematics broadens our minds, that mastery of azimuths and asymptotes will be needed for most jobs, that the entire Common Core syllabus should be required of every student. He worries that a frenzied emphasis on STEM is diverting attention from other pursuits and subverting the spirit of the country. Though Hacker honors mathematics as a calling (he has been a professor of mathematics) and extols its glories and its goals, he shows how mandating it for everyone prevents other talents from being developed and acts as an irrational barrier to graduation and careers. He proposes alternatives, including teaching facility with figures, quantitative reasoning, and utilizing statistics. The Math Myth is sure to spark a heated and needed national conversation not just about mathematics but about the kind of people and society we want to be.--Publisher's Web site. |
| john allen paulos: The Number Devil Hans Magnus Enzensberger, 2006 Enter a world in which numbers can amaze and fascinate |
| john allen paulos: Probabilities Peter Olofsson, 2013-06-05 What are the chances? Find out in this entertaining exploration ofprobabilities in our everyday lives “If there is anything you want to know, or remind yourself, about probabilities, then look no further than this comprehensive, yet wittily written and enjoyable, compendium of how to apply probability calculations in real-world situations.” — Keith Devlin, Stanford University, National Public Radio’s “Math Guy” and author of The Math Gene and The Math Instinct “A delightful guide to the sometimes counterintuitive discipline of probability. Olofsson points out major ideas here, explains classic puzzles there, and everywhere makes free use of witty vignettes to instruct and amuse.” — John Allen Paulos, Temple University, author of Innumeracy and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper “Beautifully written, with fascinating examples and tidbits of information. Olofsson gently and persuasively shows us how to think clearly about the uncertainty that governs our lives.” — John Haigh, University of Sussex, author of Taking Chances: Winning with Probability From probable improbabilities to regular irregularities, Probabilities: The Little Numbers That Rule Our Lives investigates the often-surprising effects of risk and chance in our everyday lives. With examples ranging from WWII espionage to the O. J. Simpson trial, from bridge to blackjack, from Julius Caesar to Jerry Seinfeld, the reader is taught how to think straight in a world of randomness and uncertainty. Throughout the book, readers learn: Why it is not that surprising for someone to win the lottery twice How a faulty probability calculation forced an innocent woman to spend three years in prison How to place bets if you absolutely insist on gambling How a newspaper turned an opinion poll into one of the greatest election blunders in history Educational, eloquent, and entertaining, Probabilities: The Little Numbers That Rule Our Lives is the ideal companion for anyone who wants to obtain a better understanding of the mathematics of chance. |
| john allen paulos: Innumeracy in the Wild Ellen Peters, 2020 Innumeracy in the Wild presents the logic, rules, and habits that highly numerate people use in decision making, which the less numerate can employ to choose better. This text offers a state-of-the-art review of the now sizeable body of psychological and applied findings that demonstrate the critical importance of numeracy in our world. With more than two decades of experience in the decision sciences, Ellen Peters demonstrates how intervention can foster adult numeric capacity, propel people to use numeric facts in decision making, and empower people with lower numeracy to reason better. |
| john allen paulos: Three Views on Creation and Evolution James Porter Moreland, John Mark Reynolds, 1999 Three views on creation and evolution are presented in this popular format whereby the contributors provide their own articles and respond to those of their peers. |
| john allen paulos: Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities Ian Stewart, 2009-01-06 Offers mathematical games, puzzles, and stories featuring geometry, logic, and probability. |
| john allen paulos: Modular Functions in Analytic Number Theory Marvin Isadore Knopp, 2008 Knopp's engaging book presents an introduction to modular functions in number theory by concentrating on two modular functions, $\eta(\tau)$ and $\vartheta(\tau)$, and their applications to two number-theoretic functions, $p(n)$ and $r_s(n)$. They are well chosen, as at the heart of these particular applications to the treatment of these specific number-theoretic functions lies the general theory of automorphic functions, a theory of far-reaching significance with important connections to a great many fields of mathematics. The book is essentially self-contained, assuming only a good first-year course in analysis. The excellent exposition presents the beautiful interplay between modular forms and number theory, making the book an excellent introduction to analytic number theory for a beginning graduate student. Table of Contents: The Modular Group and Certain Subgroups: 1. The modular group; 2. A fundamental region for $\Gamma(1)$; 3. Some subgroups of $\Gamma(1)$; 4. Fundamental regions of subgroups. Modular Functions and Forms: 1. Multiplier systems; 2. Parabolic points; 3 Fourier expansions; 4. Definitions of modular function and modular form; 5. Several important theorems.The Modular Forms $\eta(\tau)$ and $\vartheta(\tau)$: 1. The function $\eta(\tau)$; 2. Several famous identities; 3. Transformation formulas for $\eta(\tau)$; 4. The function $\vartheta(\tau)$. The Multiplier Systems $\upsilon_{\eta}$ and $\upsilon_{\vartheta}$: 1. Preliminaries; 2. Proof of theorem 2; 3. Proof of theorem 3. Sums of Squares: 1. Statement of results; 2. Lipschitz summation formula; 3. The function $\psi_s(\tau)$; 4. The expansion of $\psi_s(\tau)$ at $-1$; 5. Proofs of theorems 2 and 3; 6. Related results. The Order of Magnitude of $p(n)$: 1. A simple inequality for $p(n)$; 2. The asymptotic formula for $p(n)$; 3. Proof of theorem 2. The Ramanujan Congruences for $p(n)$: 1. Statement of the congruences; 2. The functions $\Phi_{p, r}(\tau)$ and $h_p(\tau)$; 3. The function $s_{p, r}(\tau)$; 4. The congruence for $p(n)$ Modulo 11; 5. Newton's formula; 6. The modular equation for the prime 5; 7. The modular equation for the prime 7. Proof of the Ramanujan Congruences for Powers of 5 and 7: 1. Preliminaries; 2. Application of the modular equation; 3. A digression: The Ramanujan identities for powers of the prime 5; 4. Completion of the proof for powers of 5; 5.Start of the proof for powers of 7; 6. A second digression: The Ramanujan identities for powers of the prime 7; 7. Completion of the proof for powers of 7. Index. (CHEL/337.H |
| john allen paulos: Mathematics and Democracy Steven J. Brams, 2009-12-02 Voters today often desert a preferred candidate for a more viable second choice to avoid wasting their vote. Likewise, parties to a dispute often find themselves unable to agree on a fair division of contested goods. In Mathematics and Democracy, Steven Brams, a leading authority in the use of mathematics to design decision-making processes, shows how social-choice and game theory could make political and social institutions more democratic. Using mathematical analysis, he develops rigorous new procedures that enable voters to better express themselves and that allow disputants to divide goods more fairly. One of the procedures that Brams proposes is approval voting, which allows voters to vote for as many candidates as they like or consider acceptable. There is no ranking, and the candidate with the most votes wins. The voter no longer has to consider whether a vote for a preferred but less popular candidate might be wasted. In the same vein, Brams puts forward new, more equitable procedures for resolving disputes over divisible and indivisible goods. |
| john allen paulos: Proofiness Charles Seife, 2010-09-23 The bestselling author of Zero shows how mathematical misinformation pervades-and shapes-our daily lives. According to MSNBC, having a child makes you stupid. You actually lose IQ points. Good Morning America has announced that natural blondes will be extinct within two hundred years. Pundits estimated that there were more than a million demonstrators at a tea party rally in Washington, D.C., even though roughly sixty thousand were there. Numbers have peculiar powers-they can disarm skeptics, befuddle journalists, and hoodwink the public into believing almost anything. Proofiness, as Charles Seife explains in this eye-opening book, is the art of using pure mathematics for impure ends, and he reminds readers that bad mathematics has a dark side. It is used to bring down beloved government officials and to appoint undeserving ones (both Democratic and Republican), to convict the innocent and acquit the guilty, to ruin our economy, and to fix the outcomes of future elections. This penetrating look at the intersection of math and society will appeal to readers of Freakonomics and the books of Malcolm Gladwell. |
| john allen paulos: The Tiger that Isn't Michael Blastland, A. W. Dilnot, 2007 Numbers have become the all-powerful language of public argument. Too often, that power is abused and the numbers bamboozle. This book shows how to see straight through them - and how to seize the power for yourself. Public spending, health risks, environmental disasters, who is rich, who is poor, Aids or war deaths, pensions, teenage offenders, the best and worst schools and hospitals, immigration - life comes in numbers. The trick to seeing through them is strikingly simple. It is to apply something everyone has - the lessons of their own experience. Using vivid and everyday images and ideas, this book shows how close to hand insight and understanding can be, and how we can all use what is familiar to make sense of what is baffling. It is also a revelation - of how little the principles are understood even by many who claim to know better. This book is written by the team who created and present the hugely popular BBC Radio 4 series, More or Less. |
| john allen paulos: The Mathematics of Gambling Edward Thorp, 1984 |
| john allen paulos: The Lexus and the Olive Tree Thomas L. Friedman, 2000 A powerful and accessible account of globalization - the new world order that has replaced the cold war - by the award-winning author of From Beirut to Jerusalem. More than anything else, globalization is shaping world affairs today. We cannot interpret the day's news, or know where to invest our money, unless we understand this new system - the defining force in international relations and domestic policies worldwide. The unprecedented integration of finance, markets, nation states and technology is driving change accross the globe at an ever-increasing speed. And while much of the world is intent on building a better Lexus, on streamlining their societies and economies for the global marketplace, many people feel their traditional identities threatened and are reverting to elemental struggles over who owns which olive tree, which strip of land. Thomas Friedman has a unique vantage point on this worldwide phenomenon. The New York Times foreign affairs columnist has travelled the globe, interviewing everyone from Brazilian peasants to new entrepreneurs in Indonesia, to Islamic students, to the financial wizards on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, to find out what globalization means for them, and for all of us. This ground-breaking book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the world really works today. |
| john allen paulos: Once Upon A Number John Allen Paulos, 1999-10-08 What two things could be more different than numbers and stories? Numbers are abstract, certain, and eternal, but to most of us somewhat dry and bloodless. Good stories are full of life: they engage our emotions and have subtlety and nuance, but they lack rigor and the truths they tell are elusive and subject to debate. As ways of understanding the world around us, numbers and stories seem almost completely incompatible.Once Upon a Number shows that stories and numbers aren't as different as you might imagine, and in fact they have surprising and fascinating connections. The concepts of logic and probability both grew out of intuitive ideas about how certain situations would play out. Now, logicians are inventing ways to deal with real world situations by mathematical means—by acknowledging, for instance, that items that are mathematically interchangeable may not be interchangeable in a story. And complexity theory looks at both number strings and narrative strings in remarkably similar terms.Throughout, renowned author John Paulos mixes numbers and narratives in his own delightful style. Along with lucid accounts of cutting-edge information theory we get hilarious anecdotes and jokes; instructions for running a truly impressive pyramid scam; a freewheeling conversation between Groucho Marx and Bertrand Russell (while they're stuck in an elevator together); explanations of why the statistical evidence against OJ Simpson was overwhelming beyond doubt and how the Unabomber's thinking shows signs of mathematical training; and dozens of other treats. This is another winner from America's favorite mathematician. |
| john allen paulos: Perfect Rigour Masha Gessen, 2011 In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman solved one of the world's greatest intellectual puzzles. The Poincare conjecture is an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. In 2000, the Clay Institute in Boston named it one of seven great unsolved mathematical problems, and promised a million dollars to anyone who could find a solution. Perelman was awarded the prize this year - and declined the money. Journalist Masha Gessen was determined to find out why. Drawing on interviews with Perelman's teachers, classmates, coaches, teammates, and colleagues in Russia and the US - and informed by her own background as a math whiz raised in Russia - she set out to uncover the nature of Perelman's astonishing abilities. In telling his story, Masha Gessen has constructed a gripping and tragic tale that sheds rare light on the unique burden of genius. |
John 1 NIV - The Word Became Flesh - In the - Bible Gateway
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah. 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to …
John 1 KJV - In the beginning was the Word, and the - Bible Gateway
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I …
John 1 NLT - Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word - In - Bible Gateway
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell …
John 1 NKJV - The Eternal Word - In the beginning was - Bible …
John’s Witness: The True Light. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 …
John 6 NIV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some - Bible Gateway
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they …
John 11 NIV - The Death of Lazarus - Now a man named - Bible …
The Death of Lazarus - Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same …
John 5 NIV - The Healing at the Pool - Some time - Bible Gateway
John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up …
John 16 NIV - “All this I have told you so that you - Bible Gateway
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. …
JOhn 19 NIV - Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified - Bible Gateway
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified - Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe …
John 8 NIV - but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. - Bible Gateway
John 8:28 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted. John 8:38 Or presence. Therefore do what you have heard from the Father. John 8:39 Some early manuscripts “If you are Abraham’s …
John 1 NIV - The Word Became Flesh - In the - Bible Gateway
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah. 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to …
John 1 KJV - In the beginning was the Word, and the - Bible …
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I …
John 1 NLT - Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word - In - Bible Gateway
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell …
John 1 NKJV - The Eternal Word - In the beginning was - Bible …
John’s Witness: The True Light. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 …
John 6 NIV - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some - Bible …
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they …
John 11 NIV - The Death of Lazarus - Now a man named - Bible …
The Death of Lazarus - Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same …
John 5 NIV - The Healing at the Pool - Some time - Bible Gateway
John 5:4 Some manuscripts include here, wholly or in part, paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up …
John 16 NIV - “All this I have told you so that you - Bible Gateway
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. …
JOhn 19 NIV - Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified - Bible Gateway
Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified - Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe …
John 8 NIV - but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. - Bible Gateway
John 8:28 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted. John 8:38 Or presence. Therefore do what you have heard from the Father. John 8:39 Some early manuscripts “If you are Abraham’s …
