The Math of Life and Death

De: Kit Yates

Narrado por: Kit Yates

Brilliant and entertaining mathematician Kit Yates illuminates seven mathematical concepts that shape our daily lives.

From birthdays to birth rates to how we perceive the passing of time, mathematical patterns shape our lives. But for those of us who left math behind in high school, the numbers and figures we encounter as we go about our days can leave us scratching our heads, feeling as if we’re fumbling through a mathematical minefield. In this eye-opening and “welcome addition to the math-for-people-who-hate-math” (Kirkus Reviews), Kit Yates illuminates hidden principles that can help us understand and navigate the chaotic and often opaque surfaces of our world.

In The Math of Life and Death, Yates takes us on a “dizzying, dazzling” (Nature) tour of everyday situations and grand-scale applications of mathematical concepts, including exponential growth and decay, optimization, statistics and probability, and number systems. Along the way he reveals the mathematical undersides of controversies over DNA testing, Ponzi schemes, viral marketing, and historical events such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Amanda Knox trial. Readers will finish this book with an enlightened perspective on the news, the law, medicine, and history, and will be better equipped to make personal decisions and solve problems with math in mind, whether it’s choosing the shortest checkout line at the grocery store or halting the spread of a deadly disease.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Yates, a mathematical biologist from the University of Bath, England, can spin a funny yarn. Listeners will smile as he tells how he turned up early at an airport once because he mixed up A.M. and P.M. His stories tend to have a serious side, though. His airport mix-up leads into explaining how time zone confusion thwarted the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Yates looks at the math relating to a lot of serious topics, such as radiation, police shootings and mass shootings, pyramid schemes, and smallpox vaccines. He keeps the topics lively and interesting. . . . Yates also offers listeners much needed ways to look skeptically at courtroom statements, statistics, and social media."

A must read!

Easily accessible book describing entertaining real world examples of how math has been used to save and destroy lives. A powerful tool to improve your ability to understand the world.

Really is the mouth of life and death

This book is titled the mouth of life and death and it really is. Some of the parts are slow but for the most part it’s fascinating so stick with it.

Math in easiest way to understand

I realize a lot of applications in my life is math-based. Fantastic book. Highly recommend.

A basic introduction

Well enough written and performance was ok. if you haven't read any similar books then you could start with this one. For anyone else, the pace is much too slow and you'll have heard many of the examples before.

Remarkably relevant

The author's own easygoing narrative presents some of the major mathematical and statistical topics of our time as storytelling. Very easy to follow as an audiobook, without reference to printed graphs or equations. Listen carefully and you'll be more skeptical of a lot you see in both the mainstream and social media.