200% of nothing : an eye-opening tour through the twists and turns of math abuse and innumeracy

Bibliographic Information

200% of nothing : an eye-opening tour through the twists and turns of math abuse and innumeracy

A.K. Dewdney

Wiley, c1993

Other Title

Two hundred percent of nothing

Available at  / 6 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. 174-180

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Acclaim for "In today's world, 'innumeracy' is an even greaterdanger 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 providecures where they are possible, and warnings where they arenecessary. "It's also a lot of fun. I can guarantee that 100%."--Arthur C.Clarke "Dewdney retells with charm and wit magnificent morsels ofmathematical mayhem discovered by his army of volunteer 'abusedetectives.' From 'sample trashing' to 'numerical terrorism,' from'percentage pumping' to 'dimensional dementia,' 200% of Nothingplumbs the depths of innumeracy in daily life and reveals whatordinary people can do about it. A rich, readable, instructive, and persuasive book."--Lynn ArthurSteen, Professor of Mathematics, St. Olaf College

Table of Contents

Innumeracy and Math Abuse. Statistics and Damned Lies. The Mathematics of Advertising. Intelligent Dice. The Law of Zero Return. Caveat Emptor. The Government Figures. Living with Risk. Gee-Whiz Media Math. The Tip of the Iceberg. Everybody Is a Mathematician. Street Math. Annotated Bibliography. Acknowledgments: The Abuse Detectives.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BA35382224
  • ISBN
    • 0471145742
  • LCCN
    92042173
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    New York
  • Pages/Volumes
    vii, 182 p.
  • Size
    23 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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