How Not to Be Wrong: The Hidden maths of Everyday life

Year: 
2014
Public: 
Tags: 
Moral assessment: 
Type: Thought
Nothing inappropriate.
Requires prior general knowledge of the subject.
Readers with knowledgeable about the subject matter.
Contains doctrinal errors of some importance.
Whilst not being explicitly against the faith, the general approach or its main points are ambiguous or opposed to the Church’s teachings.
Incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

This is a mathematics book for the general audience which aims at trying to explain some of the mathematics behind things we come across in our daily life, for example lotteries. He also explains some of the problems with the use of statistics in social sciences. Generally it is fine and could actually be quite helpful for people to think about what people are saying when providing conclusions from surveys or polls. Unfortunately he pushes this as far as applying statistical techniques to the question of the existence of God which could be confusing for readers and is not done very well. Most of the book would be perfectly acceptable for a general readership while the sections where the author discusses the existence of God would demand a higher level of formation.

D.G. (U.K., 2017)