How to make lots of money, keep yourself safe, and even save the world-all by using a little simple math Forget the dull, boring math you learned in school. This book shows you the powerful things math can do for you, with applications no teacher ever taught you in algebra class. How can you make money off credit card companies? Will driving a hybrid save you money in the long run? How do you know when he or she is "the one"? From financial decisions to your education, job, health, and love life, you'll learn how the math you already know can help you get a lot more out of life. Gives you fun, practical advice for using math to improve virtually every area of daily life Includes straightforward explanations and easy-to-follow examples Written by the author of the successful guide, How Math Explains the World Filled with practical, indispensable guidance you can put to work every day, this book will safeguard your wallet and enrich every aspect of your life. You can count on it!
"Few of us really appreciate the full power of math--the extent to which its influence is not only in every office and every home, but also in every courtroom and hospital ward. In this ... book, Kit Yates explores the true stories of life-changing events in which the application--or misapplication--of mathematics has played a critical role: patients crippled by faulty genes and entrepreneurs bankrupted by faulty algorithms; innocent victims of miscarriages of justice; and the unwitting victims of software glitches"--Publisher marketing.
Math to the rescue! Discover equations for all sorts of real-world situations in this fun guide to surviving an unpredictable world. Learn how to survive absurd yet statistically possible scenarios using the all-encompassing power of mathematical equations! Whether you paid much attention in math class or not, the inescapable truth is that life is full of equations. You use differentiation when driving from point A to B and apply basic geometry when you’re crossing the road between traffic, even if you don’t realize it. But what if you were plummeting to your death in a plane with no engine and needed to know what size parachute to make from your cabinmate’s sari in order to survive? Math teacher Chris Waring tackles some frankly ridiculous scenarios with essential, bulletproof equations so you can learn to: Communicate with an alien civilization Save your town from a zombie apocalypse Contain a major oil spill Excavate a fossil that could be a major scientific discovery Pilot a space shuttle back to earth Guard a priceless painting in the Louvre Perform Hollywood stunts in a blockbuster action film, and more! Praise for Chris Waring “Exploring the mysteries of math has never been so much fun.” —Lancashire Evening Post
A brilliant tour of mathematical thought and a guide to becoming a better thinker, How Not to Be Wrong shows that math is not just a long list of rules to be learned and carried out by rote. Math touches everything we do; It's what makes the world make sense. Using the mathematician's methods and hard-won insights-minus the jargon-professor and popular columnist Jordan Ellenberg guides general readers through his ideas with rigor and lively irreverence, infusing everything from election results to baseball to the existence of God and the psychology of slime molds with a heightened sense of clarity and wonder. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see the hidden structures beneath the messy and chaotic surface of our daily lives. How Not to Be Wrong shows us how--Publisher's description.
How to make lots of money, keep yourself safe, and even save the world-all by using a little simple math Forget the dull, boring math you learned in school. This book shows you the powerful things math can do for you, with applications no teacher ever taught you in algebra class. How can you make money off credit card companies? Will driving a hybrid save you money in the long run? How do you know when he or she is "the one"? From financial decisions to your education, job, health, and love life, you'll learn how the math you already know can help you get a lot more out of life. Gives you fun, practical advice for using math to improve virtually every area of daily life Includes straightforward explanations and easy-to-follow examples Written by the author of the successful guide, How Math Explains the World Filled with practical, indispensable guidance you can put to work every day, this book will safeguard your wallet and enrich every aspect of your life. You can count on it!
"The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them."--Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine" This is perhaps the most important mathematics book of our time. Francis Su shows mathematics is an experience of the mind and, most important, of the heart."--James Tanton, Global Math Project For mathematician Francis Su, a society without mathematical affection is like a city without concerts, parks, or museums. To miss out on mathematics is to live without experiencing some of humanity's most beautiful ideas. In this profound book, written for a wide audience but especially for those disenchanted by their past experiences, an award-winning mathematician and educator weaves parables, puzzles, and personal reflections to show how mathematics meets basic human desires--such as for play, beauty, freedom, justice, and love--and cultivates virtues essential for human flourishing. These desires and virtues, and the stories told here, reveal how mathematics is intimately tied to being human. Some lessons emerge from those who have struggled, including philosopher Simone Weil, whose own mathematical contributions were overshadowed by her brother's, and Christopher Jackson, who discovered mathematics as an inmate in a federal prison. Christopher's letters to the author appear throughout the book and show how this intellectual pursuit can--and must--be open to all.
"How Pi Can Save Your Life tackles some frankly ridiculous scenarios with essential, bullet-proof equations that you'll probably never apply in real life. But before you get into the life-saving mathematics, this book will start you off with the essential math that will be the key to taking on the wild scenarios later on in this book. Using only the power of equations, you will be able to: communicate with an alien civilization, save your town from a zombie apocalypse, contain a major oil spill, excavate a fossil that could be a major scientific discovery, perform Hollywood stunts in a blockbuster action film, and more!"--
Golf saved Drew Millard’s life, and he wants it to save yours, too. “Drew Millard’s How Golf Can Save Your Life is a lot of things—smart, insightful, funny, moving, in-the-know enough for serious golfers but accessible enough for newbies—but I think its most impressive quality is that it always manages to cut left when you expect it to cut right. Much like a golf shot, I suppose.” —SHEA SERRANO, #1 New York Times bestselling author “How Golf Can Save Your Life is a humble, honest, and frequently hilarious book that demystifies—and transcends—its subject. I’m not a golfer. But after reading it, I can say for sure that there’s nobody I’d rather suck with for eighteen holes than Drew Millard.” —ERIC NUSBAUM, author of Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between “With ceaseless humor and unyielding honesty, Drew Millard has created a unique look at the power a game can have on life. By tapping the vein of his own personal pain, Millard found that golf can be as fulfilling as frustrating. And by embracing the struggle, success can be measured in incremental increases in happiness, not in strokes.” —BRETT CYRGALIS, author of Golf’s Holy War: The Battle for the Soul of a Game in an Age of Science Drew Millard loves golf. We’re talking climbing a mountain, jumping over the moon, standing outside golf’s window holding a boom box levels of love. As a kid, he’d enjoyed the game, but since college, his clubs had been gathering dust in his parents’ basement. And then, a bout with depression led him back home to haul them out of the unfinished storage area under the stairs. It was what the doctor had ordered. In addition to medication and therapy, Drew needed to exercise. Exercise was not something he did. But golf? Sure, why not? As Drew fumbled his way through his first round in years, he discovered that sucking at golf was his new calling, one that helped him find a sense of balance and rhythm—both on the course and in his own mind. Drew’s deep emotional connection to the game inspired him to write this book, and his passion is infectious. Combining great storytelling with fascinating historical tidbits and moving personal insights, he writes about everything from how golf taught him to be a better listener, son, and friend, to how to slow down, appreciate what he has, and keep fighting the good fight. Along the way, he demystifies the customs, history, and rules of the game. Brimming with personality, accessibility, and a freewheeling spirit, How Golf Can Save Your Life is a celebration of the sport and an examination of all it offers. Read it and fall in love with golf—for the first time or all over again.
