Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life
How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game

Everything we do today is recorded as data that's sold to the highest bidder. Plugging our personal data into impersonal algorithms has made government agencies more efficient and tech companies more profitable. But all this comes at a price. It's easy to feel like an insignificant number in a world of number crunchers who care more about their bottom line than your humanity. It's time to flip the equation, turning math into an empowering tool for the rest of us.

Award-winning mathematician Noah Giansiracusa explains how the tech giants and financial institutions use formulas to get ahead-and how anyone can use these same formulas in their everyday life. You'll learn how to handle risk rationally, make better investments, take control of your social media, and reclaim agency over the decisions you make each day.

In a society that all too often takes from the poor and gives to the rich, math can be a vital democratizing force. Robin Hood Math helps you to think for yourself, act in your own best interests, and thrive.
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Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life
How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game

Everything we do today is recorded as data that's sold to the highest bidder. Plugging our personal data into impersonal algorithms has made government agencies more efficient and tech companies more profitable. But all this comes at a price. It's easy to feel like an insignificant number in a world of number crunchers who care more about their bottom line than your humanity. It's time to flip the equation, turning math into an empowering tool for the rest of us.

Award-winning mathematician Noah Giansiracusa explains how the tech giants and financial institutions use formulas to get ahead-and how anyone can use these same formulas in their everyday life. You'll learn how to handle risk rationally, make better investments, take control of your social media, and reclaim agency over the decisions you make each day.

In a society that all too often takes from the poor and gives to the rich, math can be a vital democratizing force. Robin Hood Math helps you to think for yourself, act in your own best interests, and thrive.
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Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life

Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life

by Noah Giansiracusa

Narrated by Dan Bittner

Unabridged — 5 hours, 57 minutes

Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life

Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life

by Noah Giansiracusa

Narrated by Dan Bittner

Unabridged — 5 hours, 57 minutes

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Overview

How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game

Everything we do today is recorded as data that's sold to the highest bidder. Plugging our personal data into impersonal algorithms has made government agencies more efficient and tech companies more profitable. But all this comes at a price. It's easy to feel like an insignificant number in a world of number crunchers who care more about their bottom line than your humanity. It's time to flip the equation, turning math into an empowering tool for the rest of us.

Award-winning mathematician Noah Giansiracusa explains how the tech giants and financial institutions use formulas to get ahead-and how anyone can use these same formulas in their everyday life. You'll learn how to handle risk rationally, make better investments, take control of your social media, and reclaim agency over the decisions you make each day.

In a society that all too often takes from the poor and gives to the rich, math can be a vital democratizing force. Robin Hood Math helps you to think for yourself, act in your own best interests, and thrive.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Full of engaging stories about how ideas about calculation took shape, [Robin Hood Math] reveals how algorithms intersect with our everyday lives… a lively and engaging storyteller we all need to hear.”Kirkus

“[A] cogent and breezy account… Throughout, Giansiracusa optimistically illustrates how math can help an individual regain autonomy and makes a solid case that it ‘can help you consider your options more clearly and make your decisions more thoughtfully.’ This successfully brings math to the people.” —Publishers Weekly

“Great clarity, easy-to-understand examples, and plenty of humor. . . . Even the most math-averse readers can find engagement and empowerment in this highly accessible work.” —Library Journal

“This concise book shows that anyone can understand the math used by the big-tech manipulators; anyone can take advantage of the algorithms; anyone can respond thoughtfully to the risks, opportunities, and proliferating digital predators of our brave new world. Its engaging stories and clear explanations offer practical advice and grounds for optimism.” —Paul Romer, Nobel laureate, University Professor in Economics at Boston College, and former Chief Economist of the World Bank

"Rule by algorithms scares a lot of people, and it probably should. In Robin Hood Math, Noah Giansiracusa shows how with a little math training of your own, you can see what the algorithms are trying to hide from you, and even better, take back your own decision-making power." —Jordan Ellenberg, New York Times bestselling author of Shape and How Not to Be Wrong

Kirkus Reviews

2025-05-28
Bounding through the forest of data, wielding math to right wrongs.

Giansiracusa, associate professor of mathematics at Bentley University, describes his newest work as an educational book about math, but those who freeze at the mention of mathematics can take heart—this reads like a good yarn. Full of engaging stories about how ideas about calculation took shape, it reveals how algorithms intersect with our everyday lives. Channeling Robin Hood, the 14th-century English outlaw and folk hero who took from the careless rich and gave to the deserving poor, the author tells us how we can all begin using math to take back control from large tech companies by educating ourselves on the tricks of data collectors. Navigating a world increasingly shaped by the information they gather and algorithms they deploy, we find that math can be a helpful and empowering tool. In effect, “we honor Robin Hood’s spirit by taking math from the rich and giving it to the rest of us.” Numbers matter, and Giansiracusa urges us to play the numbers game strategically. He shows us how some common statistical techniques work under the hood, and he demonstrates how to create your own ranking systems, use the weighted sum concept to personalize your own inflation rate, and understand your credit scores and even the S&P 500. Giansiracusa draws on wide-ranging examples from politics and history, including Nate Silver’s election predictions, the French Revolution, and World War II. We learn techniques for evaluating risk using math to clarify decision-making and how Bayesian formulas relate to how brains decide what to believe. The endnotes point to more stories primarily drawn from the popular press, and an index makes this a handy reference.

A math teacher turns out to be a lively and engaging storyteller we all need to hear.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940193568759
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication date: 08/05/2025
Edition description: Unabridged
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