Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy And Its Consequences (John Allen Paulos)

Genre: Nonfiction
Year Published: 1988

With A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market set firmly in my mind as one of the greatest nonfiction books I'd ever read, I set out to find more John Allen Paulos at the Penn bookstore. I knew Innumeracy was his break-out hit, so I snatched it up and began reading it that very day.

The bad news: it's not nearly as entertaining as Stock Market. The good news: it's probably a lot more important. The book is less fun because it's not as personal; it's a little more didactic and less rambling. But the fundamental idea behind the book is, in my mind, vital. As Paulos puts it:

At least part of the motivation for any book is anger, and this book is no exception. I'm distressed by a society which depends so completely on mathematics and science and yet seems so indifferent to the innumeracy and scientific illiteracy of so many of its citizens; with a military that spends more than one quarter of a trillion dollars every year on ever smarter weapons for every more poorly educated soldiers; and with the media, which invariably become obsessed with this hostage on an airliner, or that baby who has fallen into a well, and seem insufficiently passionate when it comes to addressing problems such as urban crime, environmental deterioration, or poverty.

Whew. Couldn't have put it better myself.

For anyone who has a degree in, say, mathematics, this book is not necessary to add to your shelf. But if you're one of this country's many mathphobes, the brilliant people who opted out of science and into English or sociology because the quantitative aspect of other disciplines was too scary to you, or the average people who barely passed the minimum required classes at your high school, this book is crucial. Paulos demystifies probability and statistics, subjects that arise at least every hour in most people's lives, and tries to gently lead innumerate people to the light.

Math is important, and it isn't going away. This book could help you to bridge the gap between confusion and comprehension, and that should be enough to make you want to read this.

Recommended? If you've ever uttered the sentences "I hate math" or "I'm so bad at math," you need to read this, yes.