From 31a637d3580c55a1cb94eba448a5286ee153594b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: ktyl Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2023 21:48:15 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] how not to be wrong --- blogs/2023/01/08/how-not-to-be-wrong.md | 13 +++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blogs/2023/01/08/how-not-to-be-wrong.md diff --git a/blogs/2023/01/08/how-not-to-be-wrong.md b/blogs/2023/01/08/how-not-to-be-wrong.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b6cd79 --- /dev/null +++ b/blogs/2023/01/08/how-not-to-be-wrong.md @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +# How Not To Be Wrong: The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life + +_How Not To Be Wrong_ by Jordan Ellenberg explores mathematical concepts and ideas which permeate our everyday life. + +A broad look at mathematical principles which govern some parts of everyday life, and some parts of the not-so-everyday life. +Generally well-written and approachable, as someone with a maths-adjacent background, there were some parts that I was familiar with, and others less so. +The author has a sense of humour, and writes well about topics he clearly understands deeply, mostly without boring the reader. + +I particularly enjoyed the first few chapters, where a difference is established between the "default" view of mathematics as purely a numbers game about finding exact answers to questions, versus the author's view that it's about finding the questions to ask in the first place. +Such questions include those such as "how Swedish is too Swedish?", "does lung cancer cause smoking?" and "can slime mold predict elections?". + +The book reminded me a bit of Chaos: Making a New Science which I read at the beginning of 2022, though less dry, and pitched to a more general audience. +I enjoyed some specific parts of the book a lot - particularly those involving geometry and calculus - though could have done without the extensive pieces on statistics, which was always my least favourite sub-discipline at school.