How not to be wrong : the power of mathematical thinking
(Book)
Author
Status
Adult Nonfiction - South Wing Main Floor
510 El542
1 available
510 El542
1 available
Description
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Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Adult Nonfiction - South Wing Main Floor | 510 El542 | On Shelf |
More Details
Format
Book
Physical Desc
468 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Language
English
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 443-457) and index.
Description
Overview: The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn't confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we do-the whole world is shot through with it. Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of our world. It's a science of not being wrong, hammered out by centuries of hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see through to the true meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does "public opinion" really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won Florida in 2000? And how likely are you, really, to develop cancer? How Not to Be Wrong presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more, using the mathematician's method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman-minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast range of time and space, from the everyday to the cosmic, encountering, among other things, baseball, Reaganomics, daring lottery schemes, Voltaire, the replicability crisis in psychology, Italian Renaissance painting, artificial languages, the development of non-Euclidean geometry, the coming obesity apocalypse, Antonin Scalia's views on crime and punishment, the psychology of slime molds, what Facebook can and can't figure out about you, and the existence of God. Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math, as Ellenberg says, is "an atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense, vastly multiplying its reach and strength." With the tools of mathematics in hand, you can understand the world in a deeper, more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Ellenberg, J. (2015). How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking . Penguin Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Ellenberg, Jordan, 1971-. 2015. How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. Penguin Books.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Ellenberg, Jordan, 1971-. How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking Penguin Books, 2015.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Ellenberg, Jordan. How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking Penguin Books, 2015.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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