200% of Nothing: An Eye-Opening Tour through the Twists and Turns of Math Abuse and Innumeracy - Softcover

Dewdney, A. K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471145742 ISBN 13: 9780471145745

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2009

Synopsis

200 Per Cent Of Nothing: An Eye-Opening Tour Through The Twists And Turns Of Math Abuse And Innumeracy

About this title

Review:

If you know the difference between lies, damned lies and statistics, give a copy of A K Dewdney's 200% of Nothing to your friends to get them up to speed. If you're not up to speed yourself, consider this funny, engaging little book a crash course in numeracy, the mathematical equivalent of literacy. Opening with two chapters on the importance of this dying talent, Dewdney (formerly Scientific American's "Mathematical Recreations" writer) spooks the reader with real examples of government agencies, media outlets and--of course--car salesmen deceiving their audiences with beguiling mathematical sleights-of-hand.

It's all too easy for us to think we're immune to such tactics until we actually see them laid out for us in prose as clear and disarming as Dewdney's. From there he delves more deeply into practical examples of particular problems that often catch us unaware. Gambling, advertisements using bizarre-but-normal-looking charts and bad science all come in for thorough examinations, and the reader is amazed and occasionally angered at the shamelessness of the purveyors of misleading statistics.

The book closes with two chapters designed to make readers "mathematically streetwise", with exercises to help you grasp ratios, very large and small numbers and probabilities more intuitively. 200% of Nothing inspires learning and makes it interesting--if you want to see through the fog of numbers surrounding politicians and advertisements, there's no better place to start. --Rob Lightner

From the Back Cover:

Acclaim for "In today's world, 'innumeracy' is an even greater danger than illiteracy, and is perhaps even more common. Advertisers and politicians exploit it; intellectuals (self-styled) even flaunt it. I hope that this wise and witty book will provide cures where they are possible, and warnings where they are necessary.

"It's also a lot of fun. I can guarantee that 100%."--Arthur C. Clarke

"Dewdney retells with charm and wit magnificent morsels of mathematical mayhem discovered by his army of volunteer 'abuse detectives.' From 'sample trashing' to 'numerical terrorism, ' from 'percentage pumping' to 'dimensional dementia, ' 200% of Nothing plumbs the depths of innumeracy in daily life and reveals what ordinary people can do about it.

A rich, readable, instructive, and persuasive book."--Lynn Arthur Steen, Professor of Mathematics, St. Olaf College

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0471145742
• ISBN 13: 9780471145745
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 194