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Conned Again, Watson: Cautionary Tales Of Logic, Math, And Probability
by
In Conned Again, Watson!, Colin Bruce re-creates the atmosphere of the original Sherlock Holmes stories to shed light on an enduring truth: Our reliance on common sense-and ignorance of mathematics-often gets us into trouble. In these cautionary tales of greedy gamblers, reckless businessmen, and ruthless con men, Sherlock Holmes uses his deep understanding of probability,
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Paperback, 302 pages
Published
December 6th 2001
by Basic Books
(first published 2000)
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Start your review of Conned Again, Watson: Cautionary Tales Of Logic, Math, And Probability
You might want to re-think that last bet you made!
Talk about niche marketing! Conned Again, Watson is a pretty difficult book to categorize. Perhaps the sub-title does a fair job of letting a potential reader know what it's all about - "cautionary tales of logic, math and probability".
It's not a pastiche in the typical sense. What author Bruce does is simply use the characters of Watson and Holmes and some very light-hearted mysteries to probe typical ignorance and common misunderstandings about proba ...more
Talk about niche marketing! Conned Again, Watson is a pretty difficult book to categorize. Perhaps the sub-title does a fair job of letting a potential reader know what it's all about - "cautionary tales of logic, math and probability".
It's not a pastiche in the typical sense. What author Bruce does is simply use the characters of Watson and Holmes and some very light-hearted mysteries to probe typical ignorance and common misunderstandings about proba ...more
Conned Again, Watson: Cautionary Tales of Logic, Math, and Probability, is a fun attempt to teach statistical awareness through Sherlock Holmes stories.
If nothing else, Colin Bruce should be applauded for his ability to craft tight, concise stories that excellently illustrate whatever aspect of statistics he is trying to teach, perfectly paced and accessible to the layman. Each chapter, around two dozen pages in length, poses some mystery involving statistical sampling, or game theory, or indepe ...more
If nothing else, Colin Bruce should be applauded for his ability to craft tight, concise stories that excellently illustrate whatever aspect of statistics he is trying to teach, perfectly paced and accessible to the layman. Each chapter, around two dozen pages in length, poses some mystery involving statistical sampling, or game theory, or indepe ...more
Well-written and entertaining. While the presented fallacies should be well-known and the stories seem at times a bit contrived, they are fun to read and demonstrate their points vividly and effectively. Would recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in rationality or statistics. Had a hard time putting it away.
Very enjoyable read.
Very enjoyable read.
This is an entertaining book of Sherlock Holmes and Watson tales, all of which demonstrate flaws of understanding due to logic or probability errors. Many of the puzzles they are presented with defy normal understanding, but are explicated by Holmes to a very credulous Watson.
This is a book that blends the same sort of material found in "What the Numbers Say", "Innumeracy" and "How to Think Straight".
Here's a quick review from Amazon:
"Some people who think they hate math are lucky to learn that they actually just can't abide its often dry, abstract presentation. Physicist Colin Bruce turns math teaching on its head by using conflict, drama, and familiar characters to bring probability and game theory to vivid life in Conned Again, Watson! Cautionary Tal ...more
Here's a quick review from Amazon:
"Some people who think they hate math are lucky to learn that they actually just can't abide its often dry, abstract presentation. Physicist Colin Bruce turns math teaching on its head by using conflict, drama, and familiar characters to bring probability and game theory to vivid life in Conned Again, Watson! Cautionary Tal ...more
"Sherlock Holmes e le trappole della logica”, titolo originale: “Conned Again, Watson”, di Colin Bruce, traduzione di Luca Scarlini e Lorenzo Stefano Borgotallo, Raffaello Cortina editore, ISBN: 978-88-7078-712-2.
La traduzione del titolo in italiano risulta un po’ fuorviante perché questo bel libro è più incentrato sulle applicazioni del calcolo delle probabilità rispetto a quanto faccia effettivamente riferimento alla sola applicazione della logica deduttiva.
L’Autore si serve della ...more
La traduzione del titolo in italiano risulta un po’ fuorviante perché questo bel libro è più incentrato sulle applicazioni del calcolo delle probabilità rispetto a quanto faccia effettivamente riferimento alla sola applicazione della logica deduttiva.
L’Autore si serve della ...more
3.5 stars. My not understanding probability/statistics/etc. too well aside, the math problems sometimes felt a bit out-of-place in the mysteries, and the historical figures and references inserted into the text felt a bit forced (the author even mentions at the end that a few of them were not even from the time period where the stories took place).
**edited 01/30/14
Holmes fans will welcome this extension of Holmes' powers into the probabilistic and game-theoretic domain. Sherlock Holmes enters the domain of probability and game theory with panache, tackling well-loved favorites such as the gambler's fallacy, the birthday paradox, the Monty Hall problem, Prisoner's Dilemma, independent versus dependent events, and martingales. Holmes fits well into the paradigm--after all, isn't Holmes' well-loved saying, "Once you have eliminated the impo ...more
Holmes fans will welcome this extension of Holmes' powers into the probabilistic and game-theoretic domain. Sherlock Holmes enters the domain of probability and game theory with panache, tackling well-loved favorites such as the gambler's fallacy, the birthday paradox, the Monty Hall problem, Prisoner's Dilemma, independent versus dependent events, and martingales. Holmes fits well into the paradigm--after all, isn't Holmes' well-loved saying, "Once you have eliminated the impo ...more
I've been reading this book to our boys (9 and 12), and this is I think the first time they've ever been able to understand why math might be interesting. (Sadly, thanks to our elementary school curriculum from time immemorial, elementary school math is nothing more than arithmetic.)
I stumbled on this book years ago, and I loved it because it was such a beautiful presentation of some rather interesting math--especially for somebody who loved Sherlock Holmes. On a whim, I decided to s ...more
I stumbled on this book years ago, and I loved it because it was such a beautiful presentation of some rather interesting math--especially for somebody who loved Sherlock Holmes. On a whim, I decided to s ...more
(3.5 stars) This book uses Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in a series of illustrative cases to explain several statistical and mathematical concepts that show the errors in some "common sense" approaches. The cases cover topics as diverse as the shortest line (why you always seem to be in the longest line), the birthday paradox (how likely is it that there is a shared birthday in a room), random number generation (how bad people are at generating truly random numbers), throwing good money after
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Très décevant. Les problématiques mathématiques sont bien décrites et expliquées quoique souvent connues. C'est plus dans le style, la plume que le bat blesse. Les histoires sont très très loin d'avoir la qualité des nouvelles de Conan Doyle. De plus à part le nom des deux compères, l'époque et les lieux, on ne retrouve pas grand chose de nos personnages favoris complètement dénaturés. L'univers, l'ambiance et le style de l'auteur n'est pas respecté. Je vois donc dans ce livre, outre l'objectif
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Twelve short Sherlock Holmes stories challanging logic, probability, statistic, game theory, more or less relevant to daily life. The authors approach of telling the story seen through Holmes and Watson is brilliant (incl. the dialogue between the two). Some stories are a bit simple and boring while others were quite amazing. Example Chapter 7 illustrates the error of assuming that a well-defined ordering retlation must also define a unique hierarchy. In higher mathematics it is quite possible t
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While the book offers a great introduction to many of the more popular problems in probability, statistics, and game theory, the narrative is still seriously lacking. I will concede that creating stories in which you are simultaneously attempting to explain a complicated mathematical principle is a challenge. Furthermore his explanations of these problems is actually very good and I believe that it has the ability to educate a wide audience regardless of mathematical acumen. Still the narrative
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kitap, mantık ve olasılık hikayelerini yaşanmış ve ya o tarihten sonra yaşanacak aynı vakitte bir kısım uyarlama hikaleri üzerinde anlatılmaya çalışılmış. Olasılık konunda ve ya dersinde bu konuyu uzak duranlara tavsiye ederim,çünkü ben de lise 2 den beri bu konudan uzak duruyordum. Lakin matematik kültür kitaplarını okumaya başlayınca bir başka gelmeye başladı. Artık matematik üzerinde bilgiler edindiğim vakit inanılmaz keyif alıyorum. Bu kitaptan önce Sihirli Matematik Hikayelerini Okumanızı t
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This is one of those titles that you read and think, "Ugh." Fortunately the book is better than the title or subtitle suggests. So good I think I'm going to buy a copy instead of just taking it out of the library again and again. Although technically it's a non-fiction book, it teaches basic concepts of logic, math and statistics in a series of stories taught by Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
This book was most Elementary. In twelve original Sherlock Holmes stories author Colin Bruce explains simple probability theory without Algibra. This book is great for anyone who has ever seen the TV show Numb3rs or just likes Sherlock Holmes. Though Bruce's writting style does not quite mimic Sir Doyle's it is still very readable and not at all the worst attempt I've read. So don't let a fear of math stop you from reading this book. Word problem have never been so entertaining.
I love this book. It's a collection of short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who are charming and lovely as ever. Each story is pieced together to make you think, and teaches an appreciation for uncommon math in our society. I want my future kids to read this one, because I know they'll go outside and look at problem-solving in new and exciting ways.
Sherlock Holmes teaches lessons in probability and statistics. A relatively painless series of lessons couched as mysteries, though Holmes purists and sticklers for historical or geographical accuracy (how, exactly, does Baker Street intersect with the London Docklands?) may be irked. Just ignore the quibbles and you'll learn why what you think is probable, probably isn't.
The author did a nice job explaining the mathematical principles set out in each story, but some of the characters rubbed me the wrong way. Holmes's attitude toward Watson wasn't very nice, and I don't understand why Watson would put up with someone who's always insulting his intelligence. Is Holmes like this in Doyle's stories, too?
Math! Mystery! Love!
Okay, love has very little to do with it; I just really love math and mystery, so this book, while I already knew all fo the concepts tackled by Bruce, was perfect plane reading for me.
I had never really noticed how sad of a character Watson is, though. But that's neither here nor there.
Okay, love has very little to do with it; I just really love math and mystery, so this book, while I already knew all fo the concepts tackled by Bruce, was perfect plane reading for me.
I had never really noticed how sad of a character Watson is, though. But that's neither here nor there.
Cute. A little tiresome, and some cases a little contrived (Sherlock Holmes being a master statistician/probability guru is a bit much, and Watson is always a buffoon), but if there's any way to learn this stuff, this is it. It has the air of a mystery novel in that you know some major fallacy will arise, and you try and anticipate it. Good fun ^_^
An interesting spin on Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Holmes and Watson take on cases and solve them by applying common sense and probability rules. This was an entertaining read and it tended to emphasize its mathematical lessons very gently. The author is also a very competent mystery writer.
Packaging interesting bits of math and game theory in the late Victorian cloak of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Not an obvious combination.
If you thought the steam-driven mechanical spider in "Wild, Wild West" was awesome, you'll like this book.
If you thought the steam-driven mechanical spider in "Wild, Wild West" was awesome, you'll like this book.
Cleverly written stories involving Sherlock Holmes and Watson in which the mysteries are solved using mathematics, logic and probability.
All of the mathematical concepts are clearly explained and very accessible to the average reader.
All of the mathematical concepts are clearly explained and very accessible to the average reader.
Entertaining. The author is not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but I enjoyed it. I would recommend it for high school students interested in puzzles and/or mathematics.
intrigantissimo. Come determinate discipline (prime fra tutte la statistica e la teoria dei giochi) siano fondamentalmente cotrointuitive
Aug 20, 2012
Marisol
added it
Let's just say this helped me raise money. . .
Statistics and probability always made my brain glaze over, til I read this book!
Brilliant :)
Brilliant :)
Interesting book to tickle your powers of reason and logic.
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