Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World

Bought to amuse myself. It does that!

I'd never heard of Parker until I heard him telling some math stories on a podcast, and found him engaging enough to check out this book. And it's basically a long-form version of what I heard on the podcast: a series of chapters about common mathematical mistakes, each opening with a compelling real-world story (some funny, some tragic, quite a number of which I'd heard of in other contexts). There's the Pepsi promotional Harrier jet giveaway fiasco (now the subject of a Netflix series), various architectural failures (mostly bridge-related), the perils of high-speed, high-volume internet trading, and so on. The discussion of each mistake is generally accessible, although at times grows a little labored and tedious (the part about calendars was especially so), and at times, the dives into computer programming left me skimming. There are plenty of jokes, but more of the occasional mild smile than truly amusing variety. All in all there are some interesting anecdotes, and it'll make you a little cautious the next time you deal with something math-related, but it's more of a diversion than a conceptual game-changer.

Book is great but we already had it in its UK redcover incarnation with a different tag line on the front. Amazon should make it clear that this is a USA version of a UK book. It should be relatively easy to link it as they already tell you when a newer version of an item is available.

Wish I had known that before I bought it!Different title and cover yet the same book. Shame on you Mr Parker!

Bought as a present, so can't review the book, but it came on time and in good condition