| Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences Contributor(s): Paulos, John Allen (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0809058405 ISBN-13: 9780809058402 Publisher: Hill & Wang OUR PRICE: $17.10 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2001 Annotation: Why do even well-educated people understand so little about mathematics? And what are the costs of our innumeracy? John Allen Paulos, in his celebrated bestseller first published in 1988, argues that our inability to deal rationally with very large numbers and the probabilities associated with them results in misinformed governmental policies, confused personal decisions, and an increased susceptibility to pseudoscience of all kinds. Innumeracy lets us know what we're missing, and how we can do something about it. Sprinkling his discussion of numbers and probabilities with quirky stories and anecdotes, Paulos ranges freely over many aspects of modern life, from contested elections to sports stats, from stock scams and newspaper psychics to diet and medical claims, sex discrimination, insurance, lotteries, and drug testing. Readers of "Innumeracy "will be rewarded with scores of astonishing facts, a fistful of powerful ideas, and, most important, a clearer, more quantitative way of looking at their world. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Mathematics | Essays - Education | Teaching Methods & Materials - Social Science |
| Dewey: 510 |
| LCCN: 2002278399 |
| Lexile Measure: 1360 |
| Physical Information: 0.56" H x 5.51" W x 8.29" (0.42 lbs) 208 pages |
| Accelerated Reader Info |
| Quiz #: 149586 Reading Level: 11.0 Interest Level: Upper Grades Point Value: 10.0 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Why do even well-educated people understand so little about mathematics? And what are the costs of our innumeracy? John Allen Paulos, in his celebrated bestseller first published in 1988, argues that our inability to deal rationally with very large numbers and the probabilities associated with them results in misinformed governmental policies, confused personal decisions, and an increased susceptibility to pseudoscience of all kinds. Innumeracy lets us know what we're missing, and how we can do something about it. Sprinkling his discussion of numbers and probabilities with quirky stories and anecdotes, Paulos ranges freely over many aspects of modern life, from contested elections to sports stats, from stock scams and newspaper psychics to diet and medical claims, sex discrimination, insurance, lotteries, and drug testing. Readers of Innumeracy will be rewarded with scores of astonishing facts, a fistful of powerful ideas, and, most important, a clearer, more quantitative way of looking at their world. |
Contributor Bio(s): Paulos, John Allen: - John Allen Paulos is a professor of mathematics at Temple University. His books include the bestseller Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences (H&W, 1988), Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up, A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market, and A Mathematician Reads the Newspapers. |