Humble Pi

When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World

By: Matt Parker

Narrated by: Matt Parker

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

AN ADAM SAVAGE BOOK CLUB PICK

The book-length answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?”

“Fun, informative, and relentlessly entertaining, Humble Pi is a charming and very readable guide to some of humanity's all-time greatest miscalculations—that also gives you permission to feel a little better about some of your own mistakes.” —Ryan North, author of How to Invent Everything

Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn’t. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences.

Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean.

Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.

Critic reviews

Praise for Matt Parker and Humble Pi:

“Parker is consistently very funny . . . . highly entertaining.” —The Guardian

“Parker has a sly wit. . . . A clever, amusing book about some of life’s more serious problems; highly recommended.” —Library Journal

“A fascinating and deeply surprising journey into the hilarious and sometimes tragic realm of mathematical error. Brilliant.” —Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and Messy

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

“Matt Parker is some sort of unholy fusion of prankster, wizard, and brilliant nerd—math is rarely this clever, funny, and ever so slightly naughty.”—Adam Rutherford, author of Creation

“A pleasant exploration of our deeply held incompetence at mathematics. . . . Fun reading for nonmathematicians.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Numbers to die for. Four stars.” —Mail on Sunday

“Matt Parker has pulled off something wonderful . . . his stories are superb.” —The Daily Mail

The most interesting book on math I have ever listened to

To be fair this is the o my book on Math that I have ever listened too, but I found it to be engaging and quite interesting. Once you get used to math being pronounced maths the author reading his own stuff it’s great. His enthusiasm for the material comes through in every word. Additionally I would say he has armed me with countless dad jokes for the days in my future helping teach my children math when that day comes. I ended up getting the book because a work mate stumbled upon his Arturo regarding Pepsi being sued for a harder jet and after that I needed the book. All in all one of the better listens of the several hundred audio books I have and would highly recommend. An extra benefit is how he breaks down mistakes, any who manages people or works in project management should listen to this as it will change they way you go about root cause analysis. Hope you enjoy.

four fifths great

(Two cubed/10 (funny + interesting) +(20% tedious * tedium-reducing geek factor)= Enjoyable! Don't check my maths.

poggers

this book is absolutely godlike. fantastic job by Matt parker. I have 5 words remaining

Excellent

I watch Matt Parker's YouTube channels, so I'd heard a lot about the book, but I just got to reading it now, and I highly recommend it. Fascinating stories that are in turns tragic and comedic and flow together very well. The narration is excellent and engaging. When I got to the end, I was sad that it was over. I could've listened to hours more of this book and never gotten bored

Wonderfully entertaining!

Thank you Matt for the laughter and entertainment. And thank you Tim Harford for the recommendation.