{"product_id":"numerate-life-book-john-allen-paulos-9781633881181","title":"A Numerate Life","description":"Employing intuitive ideas from mathematics, this quirky meta-memoir raises questions about our lives that most of us don't think to ask, but arguably should: What part of memory is reliable fact, what part creative embellishment? Which favorite presuppositions are unfounded, which statistically biased? By conjoining two opposing mindsets--the suspension of disbelief required in storytelling and the skepticism inherent in the scientific method--bestselling mathematician John Allen Paulos has created an unusual hybrid, a composite of personal memories and mathematical approaches to re-evaluating them. Entertaining vignettes from Paulos's biography abound--ranging from a bullying math teacher and a fabulous collection of baseball cards to romantic crushes, a grandmother's petty larceny, and his quite unintended role in getting George Bush elected president in 2000. These vignettes serve as springboards to many telling perspectives: simple arithmetic puts life-long habits in a dubious new light; higher dimensional geometry helps us see that we're all rather peculiar; nonlinear dynamics explains the narcissism of small differences cascading into very different siblings; logarithms and exponentials yield insight on why we tend to become bored and jaded as we age; and there are tricks and jokes, probability and coincidences, and much more. For fans of Paulos or newcomers to his work, this witty commentary on his life--and yours--is fascinating listening.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49551998714129,"sku":"GOR008774878","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50396914221329,"sku":"CIN1633881180VG","price":5.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50735293956369,"sku":"GOR013106893","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51330017493265,"sku":"CIN1633881180A","price":6.83,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51417631490321,"sku":"CIN1633881180G","price":5.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52424352727313,"sku":"NLS9781633881181","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1633881180.jpg?v=1750720729","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/numerate-life-book-john-allen-paulos-9781633881181","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}