Arithmetic of Life

English

ISBN: 0345426312

EAN: 9780345426314

Category: Mathematics / General

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Release Date: 09/01/1999

Synopsis: Life can make sense. All it takes is an open mind, a few good numbers, and some simple arithmetic. In The Arithmetic of Life and Death, George Shaffner brings to life the great wisdom inherent in equations as elementary as 1 + 1 = 2. For in the Information Age, numbers are the bottom line. Though many of us live in a blissful state where the memory of high school math classes have long receded from our synapses, if you cant master simple math--from your raise to the rise of inflation, your weekly family budget to the yearly federal deficit, sales tax to income tax, peaks in the stock market to drops in your cholesterol levels--you may go down for the count. But dont despair. Shaffners math meditations can show you how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide your way to deeper understanding. His math philosophy gives you real life lessons on how to think about numbers--minus the pain. The Arithmetic of Life and Death applies the basic principles of mathematics to some of the most profound, troubling, and just plain puzzling questions of our time. Each chapter explains a unique facet of life that can only be understood through the magic of numbers. Whether its a daring rumination on why more things go wrong in life than right, how much it will cost you to smoke for a lifetime, why crime (accumulatively) doesnt pay, why the probability that you would turn out to be you is one in billions of trillions, why meetings were invented (now theres a mystery), or the likelihood of life after death, this illuminating and lucidly reasoned book will forever change the way you think about numbers. Its a contemplative philosophy for the post-modern age. Its The Arithmetic of Life and Death.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Arithmetic of Life

Illustrated: No

Format: Hardcover

Height: 0.88 inches

Width: 5.33 inches

Length: 7.92 inches

Weight: 10.83 oz

Pages: 224