The Freakonomics of math-a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the
world and puts its power in our hands The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of
rules laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong Jordan
Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn't confined to abstract
incidents that never occur in real life but rather touches everything we do-the whole world is
shot through with it. Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and
chaotic surface of our world. It's a science of not being wrong hammered out by centuries of
hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics we can see through to the true
meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does
"public opinion" really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won
Florida in 2000? And how likely are you really to develop cancer? How Not to Be Wrong
presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more using the
mathematician's method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic
community to the layman-minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast
range of time and space from the everyday to the cosmic encountering among other things
baseball Reaganomics daring lottery schemes Voltaire the replicability crisis in psychology
Italian Renaissance painting artificial languages the development of non-Euclidean geometry
the coming obesity apocalypse Antonin Scalia's views on crime and punishment the psychology
of slime molds what Facebook can and can't figure out about you and the existence of God.
Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide
those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math as Ellenberg says is "an
atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense vastly multiplying its reach
and strength." With the tools of mathematics in hand you can understand the world in a deeper
more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.
