false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172536194m/186749.jpg 186749 8 This is the book that made "innumeracy" a household word, at least in some households. Paulos admits that "at least part of the motivation for any book is anger, and this book is no exception. I'm distressed by a society which depends so completely on mathematics and science and yet seems to indifferent to the innumeracy and scientific illiteracy of so many of its citizens."<p> But that is not all that drives him. The difference between our pretensions and reality is absurd and humorous, and the numerate can see this better than those who don't speak math. "I think there's something of the divine in these feelings of our absurdity, and they should be cherished, not avoided."<p> Paulos is not entirely successful at balancing anger and absurdity, but he tries. His diatribes against astrology, bad math education, Freud, and willful ignorance are leavened with jokes, mathematical or the sort (he claims) favored by the numerate.<p> It remains to be seen if <I>Innumeracy</I> will indeed be able, as Hofstadter hoped, to "help launch a revolution in math education that would do for innumeracy what Sabin and Salk did for polio"--but many of the improvements Paulos suggested have come to pass within 10 years. Only time will tell if the generation raised on these new principles is more resistant to innumeracy--and need only worry about being incomputable. <I>--Mary Ellen Curtin</I> 855025 book 1988 Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences total:361|5:90|4:152|3:89|2:28|1:2| 361 1383 610 55 3 2 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed May 23 13:33:46 -0700 2007 Sat Mar 29 10:47:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jan 18 16:32:22 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 16:38:05 -0800 2009 Debunking "impossible" coincidences, predictive dreams, UFO's, astrology, numerology, ESP, sports streaks, pseudo-science. The use of probability in legal arguments. Getting a sense of scale. Challenges of math in education. Ways we fool ourselves by over-per...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 07 17:37:45 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 17:38:16 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 06:05:56 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 16:13:52 -0700 2009 Innumeracy is a very good book addressing a very important topic, mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. As a professional statistician, I'm not the ideal person to review this book. I want to nitpick at how Paulos expresses certain statistical concepts and challenge nuances in his...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 22 11:49:56 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 22 12:01:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Oct 16 15:21:34 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 16 15:21:58 -0700 2007
This book is along the same lines as “What the Numbers Say”, although it wasn’t as engaging. And since “What the Numbers Say” was written after this one, they did build off it, expanding on several topics Paulos touched upon.

Still, Paulos does a fantastic job drivin...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Mar 19 11:48:03 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 23 14:02:12 -0700 2008 But- for example- when explaining how probabilities are calculated, equations are given without much explanation about how it's set up & where the numbers come from!! For the slightly innumerate like m...more...]]> 4 0 true false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 08:15:32 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 08:17:13 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 17:09:43 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 17:12:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Dec 03 13:32:53 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 03 13:35:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 27 14:58:37 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 15:01:29 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 14:10:09 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 20:30:57 -0700 2009
This should be required reading. It dispels some of the most common statistical misconceptions. It also shows how to broaden one's numeracy (like literacy). It's a must read.]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Sun Aug 30 14:04:16 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 14:12:52 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Tue Feb 24 16:30:38 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 16:43:02 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 05 10:29:55 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 14:31:55 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Nov 10 18:04:22 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 14:15:09 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Thu Apr 09 22:10:01 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 17:24:29 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue May 26 13:17:38 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 13:18:21 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 01 16:47:06 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 16:47:35 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Feb 27 06:25:41 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 07:31:28 -0700 2009 ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=186749