Math as the magnifier of common sense is the focus of this excellent book, covering several interesting mathematical topics with very little math required. The translation to layman's terms is done well and with humor, making for a very accessible approach. The last chapter dives into some deep math concepts and was spread a bit thin for this work; the end notes give some decent suggestions for further study. Recommended!

Took a long break before finishing this book. Lots of good stuff but an odd mixture of mathematical thinking and philosophy. I enjoy both but would have probably taken them in two separate books. I also found the writing style a bit wordy and hard to concentrate on at times.

Really enjoyed the geometrical explanation of Pearson's correlation since I had not encountered that before.

More than everything, this book leaves me happy and hopeful that there will always be people out there who believe whole-heartedly in Maths.

I relished most parts of the book and the way it was written definitely has helped in my retaining the "essense" of the book.

The reason I don't want to give it a 5/5 is that I did find it predominantly American, while that may not be a bad thing, it made the parts difficult to relate with and I needed some extra push to keep going.

Overall, well worth a read. Maybe, even a second reading is justified for the motivation this book can give.

Loved this. Does a great job of telling stories that make useful math concepts stick in my head

I think it was a rather interesting read. Math is just everywhere, even in simple choices like picking up a netflix show, there's some math involved. We just don't reason on it.
Math used to be one of my favorite subjects back in school. I just loved how some structured thinking and following a couple rules here and there brought you to a result. However, I've always felt I lacked some deeper explanations behind the rules I was thought. Of course, later on in college, learned calculus and a bit of statistics, and came to understand a whole lot more. But still, I've never had a grasp of the philosophical understanding. I know math is applicable, but I've never thought of "How this rule ever came to be? How the first people trying to solve a certain issue arrived to these conclusions?
How Not to be Wrong gave me an insight into this philosophical thinking, and I completely enjoy it. I'd say it's not a 5-stars since I found it easy to get lost at times with the examples and explanations, and some sections felt a bit messy in structue. Also, I wouldn't say it's a book for everyone unless you have some some sort of background in math. Not high level, but some of it.

Anyway, here's a good recomendation for all you math nerds who'd love to explain your friends why math is cool :)

“Math gives us a way of being unsure in a principled way.”

What a guy.

This one took a while to read because a lot of the concepts are somewhat complex, but it was well worth it. If you’ve ever wondered how you would ever use any of the math you learned in school, this book helps tie it all to the real world.

Awesome.