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Available
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Collection
Description
"This tour of real-world mathematical disasters reveals the importance of math in everyday life. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the ways math trips us up"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member nmarun
Being a math-enthusiast, I pick up books about Mathematics more frequently than other subjects. This book contains tales of errors due to (mis)understanding of math. As mentioned by other reviews, the title is misleading - it's not about Pi. Read this book if you're interested in the history of
Discussion on leap years was very detailed - we'll be off by a day in 3213 years and we have no plans to fix that - nice way to put it. Penney's game was new to me and I was astounded by how many places Benford's law is currently applied in the real world. I do know the importance of random number, but the author talks about the various ways of creating seeds for the random number sequences.
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things and their relation to math.Discussion on leap years was very detailed - we'll be off by a day in 3213 years and we have no plans to fix that - nice way to put it. Penney's game was new to me and I was astounded by how many places Benford's law is currently applied in the real world. I do know the importance of random number, but the author talks about the various ways of creating seeds for the random number sequences.
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LibraryThing member JenniferRobb
3.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on whether site allows half star ratings)
Who would have thought I'd like a book about math? I can do math for the most part (my math skills break down a bit when we get to higher level math such as calculus--and I'm not even sure about trigonometry or
Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did not already know most of the stories included in the book (yes, I probably had heard about a few) nor had I really thought about the math behind the ones that I did know. I found the stories interesting--not necessarily comedic since some did result in deaths of those affected--but they did point out the importance of math and calculations and engineering and computer programs in our technology. And should also encourage us to make sure certain parts of our care are double checked or question errors that come up etc. (Be involved in your healthcare.)
It's a bit scary to realize how much we have to trust that others did the right calculations (planes, bridges, etc.).
Overall, I found it an interesting read and not one I wanted to put down. There were a few spots where the explanations exceeded my understanding--even after me reading them several times to try to understand. I finally just accepted the gist of the explanation and moved on and didn't let it bother me.
Who would have thought I'd like a book about math? I can do math for the most part (my math skills break down a bit when we get to higher level math such as calculus--and I'm not even sure about trigonometry or
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pre-calculus anymore, though I could do them at one time.)Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did not already know most of the stories included in the book (yes, I probably had heard about a few) nor had I really thought about the math behind the ones that I did know. I found the stories interesting--not necessarily comedic since some did result in deaths of those affected--but they did point out the importance of math and calculations and engineering and computer programs in our technology. And should also encourage us to make sure certain parts of our care are double checked or question errors that come up etc. (Be involved in your healthcare.)
It's a bit scary to realize how much we have to trust that others did the right calculations (planes, bridges, etc.).
Overall, I found it an interesting read and not one I wanted to put down. There were a few spots where the explanations exceeded my understanding--even after me reading them several times to try to understand. I finally just accepted the gist of the explanation and moved on and didn't let it bother me.
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LibraryThing member TiffanyNicole67
This book shows everyone what they always asked for, math in real-world situations and why it is so important. It's crazy to realize how much we truly rely on math and that the calculations were accurate. I think this book is great to have students read, some stories might be a bit sad but it might
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encourage students to pursue their math education a bit more. Show Less
LibraryThing member melsmarsh
My husband (who never buys books) bought this for me for some reason. Probably because I engage in schadenfreude and I am not mathematically inclined. However this does do a little more than math, also survivor bias and such.
LibraryThing member BookAnonJeff
The Daily Show for Math. In this hilarious and sometimes tragic book about math in the real world - some instances discussed include the deaths of hundreds of people, but most discussions are of a humorous bent - Parker does a truly phenomenal job of showing just how easy it is to get math wrong,
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and what can happen in the real world in that situation. From bridge collapses to programming errors to planes running out of fuel midair and all kinds of other situations, Parker truly does an excellent job of looking across the spectrum of math errors and showing both what should have been the correct result and what happened with the wrong one. Truly hilarious, and very much recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jerry.Yoakum
True to its name, Humble Pi, is a big helping of humility with a cherry of understanding when it comes to math and programming mistakes.
LibraryThing member markm2315
As a connoisseur of fine mistakes, I was happy to find Matt Parker’s book. I knew him from YouTube where he broadcasts the same type of content. He is a mathematics teacher and comedian, and I thought this book was about as good as something like this can be. I can’t tell you too much about it
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or it would spoil all the great mistakes (although there are a few that you’ve probably heard of), but I was entertained to hear that the German police were searching for a serial killer for years. Her DNA turned up at every crime scene. They eventually learned that the DNA belonged to a woman who worked at the factory that made the cotton swabs they were using. Show Less
LibraryThing member OscarWilde87
Matt Parker's Humble Pi is exactly what it says in its subtitle, a comedy of maths errors. Parker takes a look at different errors that are related to mathematics and they largely stem from the areas of programming and engineering.
I like the statement that mathematicians are not specifically people
I like the statement that mathematicians are not specifically people
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who find maths easy, they are just people who enjoy how hard it is. Having seen how hard higher mathematics can be, I can relate to that. If you are willing to engage with the problems and give mathematics a chance, you can always get something out of it and solving problems can be quite rewarding actually. This is probably an attitude that many people do not have anymore as it commands a lot of attention and focus. As for the book, I found the stories Parker had to tell quite interesting and they made for a fun and breezy read. 4.5 stars. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019
ISBN
978059308694