Proofiness : the dark arts of mathematical deception
著者
書誌事項
Proofiness : the dark arts of mathematical deception
Viking, 2010
注記
Includes bibliographical references (p. [273]-286) and index
Summary: The bestselling author of "Zero" shows how mathematical misinformation pervades-- and shapes-- our daily lives
収録内容
- Proofiness
- Phony facts, phony figures
- Rorschach's demon
- Risky business
- Poll cats
- Electile dysfunction
- An unfair vote
- Alternate realities
- Propaganda by the numbers
- Appendix A. Statistical error
- Appendix B. Electronic voting
- Appendix C. The prosecutor's fallacy
内容説明・目次
内容説明
The bestselling author of "Zero" shows how mathematical misinformation pervades-and shapes-our daily lives. According to MSNBC, having a child makes you stupid. You actually lose IQ points. "Good Morning America" has announced that natural blondes will be extinct within two hundred years. Pundits estimated that there were more than a million demonstrators at a tea party rally in Washington, D.C., even though roughly sixty thousand were there. Numbers have peculiar powers-they can disarm skeptics, befuddle journalists, and hoodwink the public into believing almost anything. "Proofiness," as Charles Seife explains in this eye-opening book, is the art of using pure mathematics for impure ends, and he reminds readers that bad mathematics has a dark side. It is used to bring down beloved government officials and to appoint undeserving ones (both Democratic and Republican), to convict the innocent and acquit the guilty, to ruin our economy, and to fix the outcomes of future elections. This penetrating look at the intersection of math and society will appeal to readers of "Freakonomics" and the books of Malcolm Gladwell.
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