Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors
A Comedy of Maths Errors
Matt Parker
![Cover Art for 9780141989143, Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors by Matt Parker](https://cdn.booko.info/covers/be9d09d20a04bf2d/v/600.jpeg)
ISBN: | 9780141989143 |
Publisher: | Penguin |
Published: | 5 March, 2020 |
Format: | Paperback |
Language: | English |
Links | |
Editions: |
9 other editions
of this product
|
Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors
A Comedy of Maths Errors
Matt Parker
What makes a bridge wobble when it's not meant to? How do billions of dollars mysteriously vanish into thin air? How does a building rock when its resonant frequency matches a gym class leaping to Snap's 1990 hit I've Got The Power? The answer is maths. Or, to be precise, what happens when maths goes wrong in the real world. As Matt Parker shows us, our modern lives are built on maths- computer programmes, finance, engineering. And most of the time this maths works quietly behind the scenes, until ... it doesn't. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near-misses and mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman empire and a hapless Olympic shooting team, Matt Parker shows us the bizarre ways maths trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. This book shows how, by making maths our friend, we can learn from its pitfalls. It also contains puzzles, challenges, geometric socks, jokes about binary code and three deliberate mistakes. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.
Shop Preferences
Customize which shops to display. You can include the following shops by logging in to change your settings.