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A review by madhukaraphatak
The Math of Life and Death: 7 Mathematical Principles That Shape Our Lives by Kit Yates
5.0
One of the best mathematical books I have ever read. Teaching the real effect of mathematics ( mostly statistics and probability theory) with real-world stories made it fun to read. How a simple idea like dependent probability which we learn using dice examples in our school, can have a huge impact on the conviction in a murder case was eye-opening.
The book primarily talks about mathematical ideas like exponential growth, conditional probabilities, median vs mean, etc in a real-world context. As application of mathematics is exploding using data science and Machine learning, understanding these nuances of their application is very important.
Chapter 4 which talks about media misuse of statistics is highly relevant to today's fake news era.
The last chapter about mathematical epidemiology which concerns mathematical modeling of epidemics is one of the real needs of today's COVID-19 pandemic. It clearly shows why quarantine and lockdowns are important and gives a cautionary tale if it's not followed how fast an epidemic can spread.
The books leave us with single an important message
"Never take mathematical results as absolute truth. Always question the source of data, assumptions behind the model, and their biases.". Taking this attitude towards the mathematics as yet another tool to model the complex real-world makes it more potent rather than blind usage.
The book primarily talks about mathematical ideas like exponential growth, conditional probabilities, median vs mean, etc in a real-world context. As application of mathematics is exploding using data science and Machine learning, understanding these nuances of their application is very important.
Chapter 4 which talks about media misuse of statistics is highly relevant to today's fake news era.
The last chapter about mathematical epidemiology which concerns mathematical modeling of epidemics is one of the real needs of today's COVID-19 pandemic. It clearly shows why quarantine and lockdowns are important and gives a cautionary tale if it's not followed how fast an epidemic can spread.
The books leave us with single an important message
"Never take mathematical results as absolute truth. Always question the source of data, assumptions behind the model, and their biases.". Taking this attitude towards the mathematics as yet another tool to model the complex real-world makes it more potent rather than blind usage.