Proofiness : How You're Being Fooled by the Numbers
Seife, Charles2011
Books, Manuscripts
From the author of Zero , comes this "admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government" ( The Boston Globe ) In Zero , Charles Seife presented readers with a thrilling account of the strangest number known to humankind. Now he shows readers how the power of skewed metrics-or "proofiness"- is being used to alter perception in both amusing and dangerous ways. Proofiness is behind such bizarre stories as a mathematical formula for the perfect butt and sprinters who can run faster than the speed of sound. But proofiness also has a dark side: bogus mathematical formulas used to undermine our democracy-subverting our justice system, fixing elections, and swaying public opinion with lies. By doing the real math, Seife elegantly and good-humoredly scrutinizes our growing obsession with metrics while exposing those who misuse them.
Main title:
Proofiness : How You're Being Fooled by the Numbers / Charles Seife.
Author:
Seife, Charles, author
Imprint:
S.l. : Penguin Books, 2011.
Collation:
320 pages ; 21 cm.
ISBN:
9780143120070
Dewey class:
510
Language:
English
BRN:
2058552
More Information: