Scan barcode
gregodenwald's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
ethanong's review against another edition
3.5
Short, fun book about the quirks of math and number errors that have resulted in serious (and sometimes catastrophic) real-world effects. I found myself getting tired of Parker’s jokes and quips at the end of each section, but it’s still worth the read for math enthusiasts anywhere.
bookwormjimmy's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
If you love anything math, read this book. If the idea of reading about math scares you...still read this book. It's really less about the math and more about the entertaining but true stories of the world gone wrong when people make gargantuan or even sometimes microscopic mistakes in their math that has tremendous effects in real life. Something as simple as not having the correct length of a bolt for a bridge or not understanding a coding error on a medical machine. You can just imagine what could go wrong.
But this book is more than just the math mistakes. It's the human story behind the world that we live in, and how easy it is for us as a species to overlook something and it lead to critical failures in safety for others. You should not be surprised at the amount of mistakes that are made in pretty much every company...it's just that none of that gets released to the public. Unless of course it's a public mistake, such as a door flying off of a plane mid-flight. But really, much of what we see, it's somehow kept together with tape and glue behind the scenes.
This is an entertaining read, and I'd recommend this for anyone. I'd actually highly recommend this for high school math teachers to assign to students, especially if you're looking for a way to do some interdisciplinary work. I absolutely loved this one, and I think you would too.
But this book is more than just the math mistakes. It's the human story behind the world that we live in, and how easy it is for us as a species to overlook something and it lead to critical failures in safety for others. You should not be surprised at the amount of mistakes that are made in pretty much every company...it's just that none of that gets released to the public. Unless of course it's a public mistake, such as a door flying off of a plane mid-flight. But really, much of what we see, it's somehow kept together with tape and glue behind the scenes.
This is an entertaining read, and I'd recommend this for anyone. I'd actually highly recommend this for high school math teachers to assign to students, especially if you're looking for a way to do some interdisciplinary work. I absolutely loved this one, and I think you would too.
aldoojeda's review against another edition
funny
informative
fast-paced
3.5
Creo que hubiera preferido leer este libro en inglés. Cuando era joven no era muy fanático de las matemáticas, fue hasta mucho después en mi vida que me interesó, viendo los videos de Numberphile. Fue ahí donde supe por primera vez de Matt Parker y mucho del lenguaje que he aprendido es el que manejan ahí, en inglés. Era inevitable leer Humble Pi en su voz; su humor y sus bromas me son tan familiares ya. Desde entonces he seguido al autor en su propio canal de Youtube y varios de los casos que aquí presenta los conocía ya de sus videos, pero aún así fue entretenido repasarlos, ahora de manera escrita (a pesar de que algunos términos en español, así como algunas convenciones matemáticas no me eran familiares).
hanarainbow's review
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75