John Allen Paulos's Blog

Americans Are Bad at Math, but It’s Not Too Late to Fix

Americans rank in the bottom five in numeracy, and some believe gambling is a good deal. But there are ways for people to improve their knowledge of math.

Why Don't Americans Elect Scientists?

Scientists lead many powerful countries, including China and Germany, but they have never gotten a political foothold in the United States.

Who's Winning the Republican Race? Everybody!

We need a more sophisticated method for gauging political preferences.

JohnAllenPaulos: Applying ideas from behavioral psych to "nudge the vote" http://nyti.ms/blslNQ often works better than standard practices.

JohnAllenPaulos: Applying ideas from behavioral psych to "nudge the vote" http://nyti.ms/blslNQ often works better than standard practices.

JohnAllenPaulos: News story or tautology: "Senate Control May Hinge on X," generic headline where X is a candidate from any state in play.

JohnAllenPaulos: News story or tautology: "Senate Control May Hinge on X," generic headline where X is a candidate from any state in play.

JohnAllenPaulos: Study showing prisoners very bad at estim. prob. of gains/losses in lottery game: http://bit.ly/bhoW1x See moronic reader comment at end.

JohnAllenPaulos: Study showing prisoners very bad at estim. prob. of gains/losses in lottery game: http://bit.ly/bhoW1x See moronic reader comment at end.

JohnAllenPaulos: The 10 finalists (including moi) for Frank Delaney's Halloween Creepy Challenge: http://bit.ly/cyDPe2

JohnAllenPaulos: The 10 finalists (including moi) for Frank Delaney's Halloween Creepy Challenge: http://bit.ly/cyDPe2

JohnAllenPaulos: Yet more Halloween numerology courtesy of @alexbellos: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 567 + 89 = 666. Or if you prefer: 123 + 456 +78 + 9 = 666.

JohnAllenPaulos: Yet more Halloween numerology courtesy of @alexbellos: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 567 + 89 = 666. Or if you prefer: 123 + 456 +78 + 9 = 666.

JohnAllenPaulos: RT @alexbellos: Halloween maths: 666 in Roman numerals is DCLXVI, which is all the numerals less than 1000 written in decreasing order. ...

JohnAllenPaulos: RT @alexbellos: Halloween maths: 666 in Roman numerals is DCLXVI, which is all the numerals less than 1000 written in decreasing order. ...

JohnAllenPaulos: Great website for math instructors at all levels from @republicofmath: http://republicofmath.wordpress.com/

JohnAllenPaulos: Great website for math instructors at all levels from @republicofmath: http://republicofmath.wordpress.com/