PDF Humble Pi A Comedy of Maths Errors Audible Audio Edition Matt Parker Penguin Books Ltd Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 9 hours and 33 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Penguin Books Ltd Audible.com Release Date March 7, 2019 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07K1FGJ4J

Humble Pi A Comedy of Maths Errors Audible Audio Edition Matt Parker Penguin Books Ltd Books Reviews

• The book is a rather comprehensive enumeration of examples where bad (or just not good enough) math can lead to surprising, or even disastrous results. It is written in an accessible language, so anyone can in theory find value in reading it. Admittedly, it has less to offer to hardcore math nerds who are already aware of many of the examples presented, but that deficiency is somewhat compensated for by the author's wit. One relatively major nitpick I have is that for a book subtitled "comedy of math errors", there is a depressing number of stories that end with "and then people died". People dying is not funny, and the book doesn't try to present it as such, but for someone looking for a cheap chuckle that may be a turn-off. I guess in this case we have to assume the author used "comedy" in a Greco-Roman sense, as how Dante's Inferno is a "comedy". Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of chuckle-worthy content here, but there's quite a bit of frankly depressing stuff too.
• This was a highly entertaining and engaging read. It's accessible to non-mathematicians but still delves quite deeply into the mathematics behind many everyday activities - be it walking across a bridge, flying in an airliner or watching a game show. The author has a wry sense of humour very much in the vein of English medical doctor and author Ben Goldacre (who is actually referenced in the section about the way pharmaceutical companies game the system with research results). I can't recommend this book enough - it's great read.
• Matt Parker's standup always earns somewhere between a sensible chuckle and an astounding guffaw from me and his writing style in Humble Pi is no different. Containing everything from powers of two, to spreadsheets, to his own near-success of a supremely magic square, this book is truly worth a read. You should also check out his YouTube channel standupmaths. I personally enjoy his standup segment devoted entirely to spreadsheets.
• I ordered this book after hearing about it from the author's youtube channel. Who knew that Mathematics, or "Maths" as the English say, could be so funny and entertaining! I highly recommend this book even for people who are not particularly interested in Math. The book is published in and ships from England but shipping time was not overly long. The seller provided international tracking and I could easily follow the shipping progress.
• I'm really enjoying this book being a maths geek. But my version seems to contain a technical glitch whereby the final page of chapter 11 then takes me straight to the end of the book. To be able to continue from chapter 12 I have to use the slider and then go backwards to hit the correct page. If I overshoot and go back to chapter 11 I have to repeat the process. Not sure how to report this. Otherwise really a cool read in terms of topics and the author's lighthearted approach.
• Excellent book. From wildly funny to scary to educational.
• Very few maths or stats books leave me wanting to meet the authors. I now follow Matt Parker. An obvious love of all things mathematical coupled with a sense of humour Tom Sharpe would have appreciated make this book a joy.
• Matt Parker's book "Humble Pi" is not just a book for math nerds. I happen to be one, which one could probably argue skews my analysis. But I've had my wife (a psychologist and not at all a math person) read a few chapters and she finds it as hilarious as I do. Everything from the prose to the page numbering is designed for chuckles. The entire purpose of the book is a discussion of the numerous ways that even small math errors can cause (often humorous, sometimes tragic) problems in our modern world. Matt does a great job of discussing the mathematics in a way that requires no specific math knowledge going in. I found this book to be an easy and fun read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to 'look behind the curtain' to learn about our modern world - and get a laugh or six along the way.