How Not to Be Wrong
  • Published: 29 July 2015
  • ISBN: 9780718196042
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $30.00
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How Not to Be Wrong

The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life

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Paperback
29 Jul 2015
EBook
3 Jun 2014
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How a little mathematics goes a long way in helping you not to be wrong

The maths we learn in school can seem like an abstract set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In fact, Jordan Ellenberg shows us, maths touches on everything we do, and a little mathematical knowledge reveals the hidden structures that lie beneath the world's messy and chaotic surface. In How Not to be Wrong, Ellenberg explores the mathematician's method of analyzing life, from the everyday to the cosmic, showing us which numbers to defend, which ones to ignore, and when to change the equation entirely. Along the way, he explains calculus in a single page, describes Gödel's theorem using only one-syllable words, and reveals how early you actually need to get to the airport.
  • Published: 29 July 2015
  • ISBN: 9780718196042
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $30.00
Categories:
Share…

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Praise for How Not to Be Wrong

Funny, incisive, so gloriously readable . . . we dismiss maths at our peril, and this book charmingly, persuasively, puts us straight

James McConnachie, Sunday Times

Ellenberg runs the numbers like a magician. He can't save you from life, but he can save you from everyday error

Iain Finlayson, The Times

Lucid and witty . . . If only all maths lessons were like this

Orlando Bird, Financial Times

Brilliantly engaging . . . sheer intellectual joy

Washington Post