Supermath: The Power of Numbers for Good and Evil

by Anna Weltman

Overview

Explore the hidden powers of math that shape us, influencing everything from our sense of justice to our perception of beauty.

Archaeologists decoding ancient messages. Epidemiologists analyzing the spread of a contagious disease. African Americans seeking full enfranchisement in a society that has worked to exclude them. A family doing puzzles at the kitchen table. These scenarios seem to have little in common. But in fact, each of these groups is faced with a multifaceted challenge—and each is using math to solve it.

In Supermath, popular author and educator Anna Weltman showcases the incredible power of mathematics when people apply it outside of the world of pure numbers, introducing it into the realms of science, politics, history, education, and art. Her stories share how math has protected us from war and disease, helped us communicate across time and space, and made the world a fairer and more beautiful place. But Weltman also warns us that dangers arise when the transformative might of numbers goes unchecked. Mathematics has been used to mistranslate records, silence indigenous communities, create gerrymandered voting districts, close the gates of higher education. Sometimes, math can blind those who wield it to its limitations, causing those who would deploy it to solve problems to instead create more.

Drawing on history and current events, Weltman tackles five fascinating questions: Is math the universal language? Can math eliminate bias? Can math predict the next move? Can math open doors? And finally, What is genuine beauty? Supermath is an enlightening book that pursues complex lines of mathematical thought while providing a fascinating lens into global problems and human culture as a whole.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421438191
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.83(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Anna Weltman is a math teacher and writer who earned her PhD in mathematics education from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the author of This Is Not a Math Book and This Is Not Another Math Book.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1. Is Math the Universal Language? Math and the Problem of Communicating across Cultures
Chapter 2. Can Math Predict the Next Move? Math and the Problem of Winning (or Not Losing, at Least)
Chapter 3. Can Math Eliminate Bias? Math and the Problem of Fairness
Chapter 4. Can Math Open Doors? Math and the Problem of Opportunity
Chapter 5. What Is Genuine Beauty? Math and the Problem of Perception
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Tim Chartier

Touching enthusiastically on a number of big, important, and hot topics in mathematics, STEM, and academia, Supermath is refreshing and different. This is a book that I will often reference and pull off the shelf!

Evelyn Lamb

This clever and engaging book illuminates the ways that mathematics depends on the sometimes flawed, sometimes transcendent humans who create it. Mathematics is not a universal language that gives you superpowers, but by understanding both its power and its limitations, we can use math responsibly as educators, decisionmakers, and citizens.

From the Publisher

Touching enthusiastically on a number of big, important, and hot topics in mathematics, STEM, and academia, Supermath is refreshing and different. This is a book that I will often reference and pull off the shelf!
—Tim Chartier, Davidson College, author of Math Bytes: Google Bombs, Chocolate-Covered Pi, and Other Cool Bits in Computing

Anna Weltman weaves a powerful argument that the practice of mathematics is culturally embedded and has the ability to shape society for the better if wielded thoughtfully and by a more diverse group of practitioners. Supermath presents a mathematics that is expansive, political, and beautiful—in other words, a mathematics that is humanized.
—Sameer Shah, high school math teacher, blogger at Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere

From the search for aliens to the search for twin primes to the search for racial justice, Anna Weltman spins a lot of great yarns. Better yet, each tale is true: a story of how math serves good or evil, clarity or confusion, depending on the choices of the humans who wield it.
—Ben Orlin, author of Math with Bad Drawings

This clever and engaging book illuminates the ways that mathematics depends on the sometimes flawed, sometimes transcendent humans who create it. Mathematics is not a universal language that gives you superpowers, but by understanding both its power and its limitations, we can use math responsibly as educators, decisionmakers, and citizens.
—Evelyn Lamb, blogger, Roots of Unity

Sameer Shah

Anna Weltman weaves a powerful argument that the practice of mathematics is culturally embedded and has the ability to shape society for the better if wielded thoughtfully and by a more diverse group of practitioners. Supermath presents a mathematics that is expansive, political, and beautiful—in other words, a mathematics that is humanized.

Ben Orlin

From the search for aliens to the search for twin primes to the search for racial justice, Anna Weltman spins a lot of great yarns. Better yet, each tale is true: a story of how math serves good or evil, clarity or confusion, depending on the choices of the humans who wield it.

Editorial Reviews

Weltman's book can be read as a call for scholars, educators, and communicators of mathematics to grapple with the power our training and credentialing in mathematics grants us, and to understand that its most basic promise of solving problems is not automatic but one that we must realize.
—New Books Network

This friendly, generalist book is a fun and easy read for anyone interested in mathematics, whether they have a strong background in the subject or not. More importantly, though, it's a thought-provoking look at the not-so-secret human side of mathematics.
—Mathematics Magazine

...the essays are worthwhile reads that are thought-provoking.
—Mathematics Magazine

From the Publisher

This friendly, generalist book is a fun and easy read for anyone interested in mathematics, whether they have a strong background in the subject or not. More importantly, though, it's a thought-provoking look at the not-so-secret human side of mathematics.

Mathematics Magazine

Weltman's book can be read as a call for scholars, educators, and communicators of mathematics to grapple with the power our training and credentialing in mathematics grants us, and to understand that its most basic promise of solving problems is not automatic but one that we must realize.

New Books Network