The maths of life and death - Kit Yates

"This is an exquisitely interesting book. It's a deeply serious one
too and, for those like me who have little maths, it's delightfully
readable" - IAN MCEWAN

"Kit Yates is a natural storyteller.
Through fascinating stories and examples, he shows how maths is the
beating heart of so much of modern life. An exciting new voice in the
world of science communication" - MARCUS DU SAUTOY

"Used wisely,
mathematics can save your life. Used unwisely, it can ruin
it. A lucid
and enthralling account of why maths matters in everyone's
life. A real
eye-opener." - Prof Ian Stewart FRS, author of Do Dice Play God?
__________

Maths is the story of the world around us, and the wisdom it gives us can be the difference between success and disaster.

We
are all doing maths all the time, from the way we communicate with each
other to the way we travel, from how we work to how we relax. Many of
us are aware of this. But few of us really appreciate the full power of
maths - the extent to which its influence is not only in every office
and every home, but also in every courtroom and hospital ward.

In
this eye-opening and extraordinary book, Yates explores the true
stories of life-changing events in which the application - or
misapplication - of mathematics has played a critical role: patients
crippled by faulty genes and entrepreneurs bankrupted by faulty
algorithms; innocent victims of miscarriages of justice and the
unwitting victims of software glitches. We follow stories of investors
who have lost fortunes and parents who have lost children, all because
of mathematical misunderstandings.

Along the way, Yates arms us
with simple mathematical rules and tools that can help us make better
decisions in our increasingly quantitative society. You will discover
why it's always sensible to question a statistic, often vital to ask for
a second opinion and sometimes surprisingly handy to stick to the 37%
rule...