Math Books
I’ll bet you were told there would be no math here. Surprise! There is nothing but math here.
There are many helpful ways to view the world. We can look through the lens of sociology, psychology, philosophy, and theology and learn important things. But one of the most powerful ways of understanding the world is through mathematics. I admit it is one of my secret passions. Though as passions go, this one is pretty harmless.
I was actually pretty good in math once upon a time and can still do arithmetic in my head quite accurately and quickly. But somewhere near the end of my high school career, the answers to the problems came out to be as complicated as the original question. That took some of the fun out of it. I learned to find the derivative. I just never really stayed around long enough to find out why I needed it. So you might not find it surprising that I enjoy reading a certain kind of math book. I’m guessing this will be the hardest sell I’m going to have to make in these reviews. But here is a quick shot at four highly entertaining books centered on mathematics.
The Norm Chronicles: Stories and Numbers About Danger and Death
By Michael Blastland and David Spiegelhalter
2014
384 pages / 10 hours and 57 minutes
Nonfiction
The Norm Chronicles is about risk. For instance, skydiving is an inherently risky activity. How risky? About the same as going under general anesthesia. Oh. In this fascinating book the authors tell us just how risky a variety of activities are, and there are plenty of surprises. Will this knowledge change what we are willing to do? Read it and find out.
How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking
By Jordan Ellenberg
2014
480 pages / 13 hours and 29 minutes
Nonfiction
How Not to Be Wrong first of all gets a prize for a most excellent title. Mathematical thinking, according to the author, helps guide our thinking, which is prone to false assumptions and cognitive biases. The book is full of great examples, and I dare not give away my favorite about a World War II statistician who is asked to figure out where extra armor needs to be put on fighter planes. The answer is so counter-intuitive.
The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day
By David J. Hand
2014
288 pages / 8 hours and 32 minutes
Nonfiction
This one has a catchy subtitle that offers a pretty good description of what the book is actually about. The author tells the story of a British couple who were in New York in 2001, London in 2005, and Mumbai in 2008 when there were terrorist attacks. Could this just be a coincidence? Well, yes. Extraordinarily rare events happen, and there are rational reasons why.
Proofiness: How You’re Being Fooled by the Numbers
By Charles Seife
2010
320 pages
Nonfiction
But our list wouldn’t be complete without at least one book that points to the dark side. Proofiness points out that there are a lot of ways to use mathematics in misleading fashion, and boy, is he worked up about it. He believes that is a threat to our very democracy. He is remarkably evenhanded in pointing out how both Republicans and Democrats mislead with numbers. This is a book you really ought to read.
I suppose it is too late in your life for me to convince you that math can be fun. But I will be surprised if you don’t find these books to be quite engaging even if you don’t always understand the math.
