{"product_id":"a-numerate-life-a-mathematician-explores-the-vagaries-of-life-his-own-and-probably-yours-9781633881181","title":"A Numerate Life: A Mathematician Explores the Vagaries of Life, His Own and Probably Yours","description":"Employing intuitive ideas from mathematics, this quirky meta-memoir raises questions about our lives that most of us don't think to ask, but arguably should: What part of memory is reliable fact, what part creative embellishment? Which favorite presuppositions are unfounded, which statistically biased? By conjoining two opposing mindsets--the suspension of disbelief required in storytelling and the skepticism inherent in the scientific method--bestselling mathematician John Allen Paulos has created an unusual hybrid, a composite of personal memories and mathematical approaches to re-evaluating them. Entertaining vignettes from Paulos's biography abound--ranging from a bullying math teacher and a fabulous collection of baseball cards to romantic crushes, a grandmother's petty larceny, and his quite unintended role in getting George Bush elected president in 2000. These vignettes serve as springboards to many telling perspectives: simple arithmetic puts life-long habits in a dubious new light; higher dimensional geometry helps us see that we're all rather peculiar; nonlinear dynamics explains the narcissism of small differences cascading into very different siblings; logarithms and exponentials yield insight on why we tend to become bored and jaded as we age; and there are tricks and jokes, probability and coincidences, and much more. For fans of Paulos or newcomers to his work, this witty commentary on his life--and yours--is fascinating reading.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Prometheus Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/10\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781633881181\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 206\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/07\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/15\/2015 pg. 101\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2016\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"John Allen Paulos","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43600416014517,"sku":"9781633881181","price":14.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_8bf2f5a4-0c88-4015-8e2e-9495966fa320.jpg?v=1707208736","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/a-numerate-life-a-mathematician-explores-the-vagaries-of-life-his-own-and-probably-yours-9781633881181","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}