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Once Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories by John Allen Paulos (Paperback, 1999)
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What two things could be more different than numbers and stories?. "Once Upon a Number" shows that stories and numbers aren't as different as you might imagine, and in fact they have surprising and fascinating connections.
- Buy It NowOnce Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories by John Allen Paulo
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About this product
Product Information
What two things could be more different than numbers and stories? Numbers are abstract, certain, and eternal, but to most of us somewhat dry and bloodless. Good stories are full of life: they engage our emotions and have subtlety and nuance, but they lack rigor and the truths they tell are elusive and subject to debate. As ways of understanding the world around us, numbers and stories seem almost completely incompatible. Once Upon a Number shows that stories and numbers aren't as different as you might imagine, and in fact they have surprising and fascinating connections. The concepts of logic and probability both grew out of intuitive ideas about how certain situations would play out. Now, logicians are inventing ways to deal with real world situations by mathematical means,by ackwledging, for instance, that items that are mathematically interchangeable may t be interchangeable in a story. And complexity theory looks at both number strings and narrative strings in remarkably similar terms.Throughout, rewned author John Paulos mixes numbers and narratives in his own delightful style. Along with lucid accounts of cutting-edge information theory we get hilarious anecdotes and jokes instructions for running a truly impressive pyramid scam a freewheeling conversation between Groucho Marx and Bertrand Russell (while they're stuck in an elevator together) explanations of why the statistical evidence against OJ Simpson was overwhelming beyond doubt and how the Unabomber's thinking shows signs of mathematical training and dozens of other treats. This is ather winner from America's favourite mathematician.Product Identifiers
PublisherBasic Books, The Perseus Books Group
ISBN-100465051596
ISBN-139780465051595
eBay Product ID (ePID)95792415
Product Key Features
TypeTextbook
FormatTrade Paperback (Uk), Paperback
LanguageEnglish
AuthorJohn Allen Paulos
SubjectMathematics
Dimensions
Height203mm
Width127mm
Weight283g
Additional Product Features
Date of Publication17/09/1999
Place of PublicationNew York
Spine15mm
GenreMathematics
Country of PublicationUnited States
Author BiographyJohn Allen Paulos received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and is professor of mathematics at Temple University. Dr. Paulos has written a number of scholarly papers on mathematical logic, probability, and the philosophy of science. He is also the author of Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man, Mathematics and humour, and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
Content NoteBlack & White Illustrations
