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A Numerate Life: A Mathematician Explores the Vagaries of Life, His Own and Probably Yours
Contributor(s): Paulos, John Allen (Author)

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ISBN: 1633881180     ISBN-13: 9781633881181
Publisher: Prometheus Books
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Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: November 2015
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology
- Mathematics | Essays
- Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs
Dewey: B
LCCN: 2015023515
Physical Information: 0.6" H x 6" W x 8.9" L (0.55 lbs) 206 pages
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Price on Product
Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 09/07/2015
Library Journal 11/15/2015 pg. 101
Choice 04/01/2016
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Employing intuitive ideas from mathematics, this quirky "meta-memoir" raises questions about our lives that most of us don't think to ask, but arguably should: What part of memory is reliable fact, what part creative embellishment? Which favorite presuppositions are unfounded, which statistically biased? By conjoining two opposing mindsets--the suspension of disbelief required in storytelling and the skepticism inherent in the scientific method--bestselling mathematician John Allen Paulos has created an unusual hybrid, a composite of personal memories and mathematical approaches to re-evaluating them. Entertaining vignettes from Paulos's biography abound--ranging from a bullying math teacher and a fabulous collection of baseball cards to romantic crushes, a grandmother's petty larceny, and his quite unintended role in getting George Bush elected president in 2000. These vignettes serve as springboards to many telling perspectives: simple arithmetic puts life-long habits in a dubious new light; higher dimensional geometry helps us see that we're all rather peculiar; nonlinear dynamics explains the narcissism of small differences cascading into very different siblings; logarithms and exponentials yield insight on why we tend to become bored and jaded as we age; and there are tricks and jokes, probability and coincidences, and much more. For fans of Paulos or newcomers to his work, this witty commentary on his life--and yours--is fascinating reading.
 
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