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.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Produkt-Hinweis
Maße
Höhe: 203 mm
Breite: 135 mm
Dicke: 17 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-14-312007-0 (9780143120070)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Charles Seife is the author of five previous books, including
Proofiness and
Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction and was a
New York Times notable book. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including
The New York Times, Wired, New Scientist, Science, Scientific American, and
The Economist. He is a professor of journalism at New York University and lives in New York City.
