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

by A. K. Dewdney

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471145745
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	02/09/1996
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

A. K. DEWDNEY, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario. Well-known for his popular "Mathematical Recreations" column, which ran in Scientific American for more than eight years, he is also the author of several books, including The Armchair Universe and The Planiverse: Computer Contact with a Two-Dimensional World.

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.