Skip to content
  • Podcast
  • Microcast
  • Books
  • Context
  • Search
    • Podcast Programs
      • Chapters
      • Engaging the World
      • How + Why
      • Medium History
      • The Fire Problem
      • Without...
    • Podcast Series
      • Adjust Accordingly
      • Eichler Sessions
      • Environmental Justice
      • Ethnic Studies
      • Gender and Sexuality
      • Love of Food
      • Placing Equity into Practice
      • Science + Technology
      • Significance of Race
      • Sounds + Stories
      • The Grammar
    • Book Collections
      • Arts
      • Biography + Memoir
      • Business + Education
      • Children
      • Comics + Graphic Novels
      • Cooking
      • History
      • Poetry
      • Science + Technology
      • Young Adult
    • Book Lists
      • Children Bestsellers
      • Fiction Bestsellers
      • Nonfiction Bestsellers
      • Book Awards
      • Indie Next List
      • Indie Next List for Kids
  • Sign in
0

Past ForwardPast Forward

  • Podcast
  • Microcast
  • Books
  • Context
  • Search
    • Podcast Programs
      • Chapters
      • Engaging the World
      • How + Why
      • Medium History
      • The Fire Problem
      • Without...
    • Podcast Series
      • Adjust Accordingly
      • Eichler Sessions
      • Environmental Justice
      • Ethnic Studies
      • Gender and Sexuality
      • Love of Food
      • Placing Equity into Practice
      • Science + Technology
      • Significance of Race
      • Sounds + Stories
      • The Grammar
    • Book Collections
      • Arts
      • Biography + Memoir
      • Business + Education
      • Children
      • Comics + Graphic Novels
      • Cooking
      • History
      • Poetry
      • Science + Technology
      • Young Adult
    • Book Lists
      • Children Bestsellers
      • Fiction Bestsellers
      • Nonfiction Bestsellers
      • Book Awards
      • Indie Next List
      • Indie Next List for Kids

Your cart

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Ellenberg, Jordan

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking

Jordan Ellenberg

$19.00

$16.15

 
 
This item is a recurring or deferred purchase. By continuing, I agree to the cancellation policy and authorize you to charge my payment method at the prices, frequency and dates listed on this page until my order is fulfilled or I cancel, if permitted.
The Freakonomics of math--a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands

The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn't confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we do--the whole world is shot through with it.

Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of our world. It's a science of not being wrong, hammered out by centuries of hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see through to the true meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does "public opinion" really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won Florida in 2000? And how likely are you, really, to develop cancer?

How Not to Be Wrong presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more, using the mathematician's method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman--minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast range of time and space, from the everyday to the cosmic, encountering, among other things, baseball, Reaganomics, daring lottery schemes, Voltaire, the replicability crisis in psychology, Italian Renaissance painting, artificial languages, the development of non-Euclidean geometry, the coming obesity apocalypse, Antonin Scalia's views on crime and punishment, the psychology of slime molds, what Facebook can and can't figure out about you, and the existence of God.

Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math, as Ellenberg says, is "an atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense, vastly multiplying its reach and strength." With the tools of mathematics in hand, you can understand the world in a deeper, more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 05/26/2015
ISBN: 9780143127536
Pages: 480
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.30w x 1.00d

Mission

Past Forward is a public service dedicated to educational accessibility.

Podcast

Listen to episodes on our website, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you podcast.

Books

Search millions of discounted books with next business day shipping in the US.

Information

To learn more, please visit the following pages for Context, Disclaimers, Policies, and Terms.

© 2014-2025 Past Forward