Humble Pi

A Comedy of Maths Errors

By: Matt Parker

Narrated by: Matt Parker

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Humble Pi written and read by Matt Parker.

What makes a bridge wobble when it's not meant to? Billions of dollars mysteriously vanish into thin air? A building rock when its resonant frequency matches a gym class leaping to Snap's 1990 hit I've Got The Power? The answer is maths. Or, to be precise, what happens when maths goes wrong in the real world.

As Matt Parker shows us, our modern lives are built on maths: computer programmes, finance, engineering. And most of the time this maths works quietly behind the scenes, until...it doesn't. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near-misses and mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman empire and a hapless Olympic shooting team, Matt Parker shows us the bizarre ways maths trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world.

Mathematics doesn't have good 'people skills', but we would all be better off, he argues, if we saw it as a practical ally. This book shows how, by making maths our friend, we can learn from its pitfalls. It also contains puzzles, challenges, geometric socks, jokes about binary code and three deliberate mistakes. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.

©2019 Matt Parker (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Matt Parker has pulled off something wonderful...his stories are superb." (Marcus Berkmann)

"Bought it yesterday, enjoying it enormously, well done!" (Dara Ó Briain)

"[Matt Parker] shows off math at its most playful and multifarious." (Jordan Ellenberg, author of How to Not Be Wrong)

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if you've already watched his youtube material you will already have heard most of this.

The best Mat(t/hs) book this year

Wanted to give it 3, 1 and 4 stars. But it's just too good. So instead I give it 6.28 stars in each category, rounded to the nearest possible star rating. Great job Mat(t/hs)!

Audiobook is not the best way to read this

Even though my enjoyment of this book was mixed, I gave this a 4 because I feel it simply does not seem targeted at someone like me, and 3 would be unfair. If you're an engineer, or a programmer, you will likely enjoy parts that are about other fields, however ones from your own are dumbed down for a layperson to understand and their explanations may be quite boring. Aside from that, Matt sometimes goes into excruciating amount of numbers as a joke, but it gets old fast since he does it multiple times in the book. If you're reading a paper copy, you can probably skim the joke, but listening to an audiobook you're exposed to the "joke" for far too long. Also, holding many numbers in your head when listening is simply much harder than if you'd be able to cross reference them visually on paper/e-reader.
The research and content was solid, but the book could use a bit more editing.
Matt's reading is good, but his rhythm of speech could be more fluid - he makes a bit too many unnatural pauses when reading, making it painstakingly obvious he is in fact reading. It's not the natural Matt that you hear on his YouTube channel.

Very enjoyable !

Very enjoyable book with great story's, both fun and educational. Matt's voice is unmatched.

Loved it

Great selection of small stories about mistakes being a part of what it means to be a human. I really onjoyed the performance and the math.

Entertaining

Great content for audiobook. I am curious if it is understandable by someone with no interest in maths.

Entertaining, well read.

Some stories are on youtube already. So not all of it was new to me. Still a very fun listen, well read my Matt himself. Fairly easy to follow, in spite of being math in audio form. Recommend.

literally better than 98.5% of maths books

literally better than 98.5% of maths books out there and that's an undeniable fact.

Excellent and Varied Examples

Excellent text and fine narration, relevant and meaningful examples that walk a fine balance of overall applicability and prerequisite understanding of field and terms. The only caveat is the missing PDF; there are a few cases that would benefit greatly from a visual appendix.

Chuckles, chuckles and some serious maths!

Loved it! Full of chuckles, full of serious math!

Gives you a whole another perspective of the importance of getting math right when needed.

A lovely book for all-a horror book for engineers!

Engaging math geekery

3.1415926 ... out of 5.

These eleven words have been written to fulfil the word count.

As if maths on its own wasn't funny enough!

Matt does it again! whether you know him from YouTube or not this author can bring a funny twist to everything mathematical, and that means that he can add a fun twist to everything. This eye opening book will make you reflect on the deepest thoughts with a smile on your face and a nice LoL from time to time!
Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Nerdy satisfaction 93% of the time

Only 12% unintelligible to the layman, 60% humour inducing to those within the nerdy front row

Fun insight into how maths impacts our lives!

Interesting and well paced subject matter. It is fascinating how many everyday things trace back to numbers and (mis)calculations. Mr Parker is a great narrator, you can tell he's done a lot speaking in his many seconds on this earth.

Not a mistake

Matt Parker is one of the best maths communicators out there.
And this is a hilarious listen.

Ineptitude, idiocy, bad luck. All interestesting.

. I am never ceased to be amazed how the blatantly obvious can so easily be missed. Just because a person is intelligent, doesn't mean they can not be blind on occasions. This book is well written and well read stories, and a stark reminder to us all as to the obviousness of hubris at the centre of mankind.
. Good adages to bear in mind for all programmers & designers are:
. Improbable is not the same as impossible. And:
. if it can be misunderstood, it will be. And finally'
. Just because it make no since to do it that way, does not mean it will not be done that way.
. All of these should be especially born in mind when picking up somebody else's work. And even for your own work, if you have to come back to it after a significant length of time.
🙃👍👌😇🙏

Die not dice

In the random chapter Matt said dice when describing a singular die. Apart from that great audiobook

Entertaining listen

I had my doubts about how well a book about maths, formulas and so on would work as an audiobook, rest assured that the format is not a problem. There is no need to visualise any equations, all is at a simple level suitable for all.

Hilarious and informational

Couldn't stop listening, comedy gold and a gigantic reservoir of interesting and thought-provoking real word examples combined into one well-structured book. Learning and enjoying at the same time. Great!

Great Easy Listen!

I listened to this Audio Book whilst carrying out a bathroom renovation. It made the job more enjoyable, for instance when I had to clean the grout, I looked forward to it as I knew I’d be back into the Audio Book.
Matt is easy to listen to and the book isn’t complex. It’s full of interesting mistakes, some which I have heard from before due to my interest in Engineering and Physics.

Highly recommended to make a task more enjoyable.