A Mathematician Reads the NewspaperWith the same user-friendly, quirky, and perceptive approach that made "Innumeracy" a bestseller, John Allen Paulos travels though the pages ofthe daily newspaper showing how math and numbers are a key element in many ofthe articles we read every day. From the Senate, SATs, and sex, to crime, celebrities, and cults, he takes stories that may not seem to involvemathematics at all and demonstrates how a lack of mathematical knowledge canhinder our understanding of them. "After reading "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, " it will beimpossible to look at the newspaper in the same way."-- "PhiladelphiaInquirer" "It would be great to have John Allen Paulos living next door. Everymorning when you read the paper and come across some story that didn't seemquite right--that had the faint odor of illogic hovering about it-- you couldjust lean out the window and shout, 'John! Get the hell over here!'. A fun, spunky, wise little book that would be helpful to both the consumers of thenews and its purveyors." -- "Washington Post Book World" |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - setnahkt - LibraryThingSadly dated; what we need now is A Mathematician Surfs the Web. Paulos is reasonably non-doctrinaire, with examples that should annoy or outrage any political persuasion – although he’s careful not to ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Razinha - LibraryThingPaulos is a witty mathematician and makes excellent points in his analyses of newspapers focusing on the numbers, statistics, ignorance and misrepresentations. Arranged as newspaper content, with ... Read full review
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Is It Vietnam or World War | 14 |
Afta Nafta Lafta Free Traders Exult | 27 |
Copyright | |
12 other sections not shown