I read two books today: a work of fiction and a work of nonfiction. And I preferred the nonfiction. This is starting to become a trend[?] – I think it's more that, with lit ('lit') I tend to get a variety of reactions, whereas if a nonfiction book interests me enough to pick it up, I'll probably like it.

So pop math books. Like pop science, but math. I don't know math. I wish I did. And so this was a nice piece, I thought. A bit stat-focused for me, and I'd've wished for greater breadth, but I did learn new things, so that was cool. I even got to type some stuff into google for my own edification: slime mold decision making, Peano axioms, Ramanujan, Hilbert's problems – plus basic concepts of stats that are important to understand – and even mentions of Beckett and DFW – my kind of author, to say the least.

Not the best title, but good content.

I run across a lot of books that I add to my to-be-read list and then forget about until after their publication dates or I stumble upon the book in the library or bookstore. How Not to Be Wrong was initially one of those books, but it sounded so good that I found myself obsessively thinking about it and started a search for a pre-publication copy. Since I'm not a librarian, didn't win a copy via First Reads, and don't have friends at Penguin Press, it took some time and effort, but having procured a copy and read it, I can say that it was well worth my time and $6.00. How Not to Be Wrong is a catchy title, but for me, this book is really about the subtitle, The Power of Mathematical Thinking.

Ellenberg deftly explains why mathematics is important, gives the reader myriad examples applicable to our own lives, and also tells us what math can't do. He writes, “Mathematics is the extension of common sense by other means”, and proceeds to expound upon an incredible number of interesting subjects and how mathematics can help us better understand these topics, such as obesity, economics, reproducibility, the lottery, error-correcting codes, and the existence (or not) of God. He writes in a compelling, explanatory way that I think anyone with an interest in mathematics and/or simply understanding things more completely will be able to grasp. Ellenberg writes “Do the Math” for Slate, and it's evident in his column and this book that he knows how to explain mathematical ideas to non-mathematicians, and even more so, seems to enjoy doing so with great enthusiasm. I won't pretend that I understood everything discussed in this book, but it's such an excellent book that I intend to buy the hardcover once it's published (so I have an index which my pre-pub copy does not), and reread the book so I do have a much more thorough understanding. I've wished for a book like this for a long time, and I'd like to thank Jordan Ellenberg for writing it for me!

8/20/17: After a thorough re-read, this book is still 5 bright and shining stars for me. Maybe after a few more re-reads I'll finally understand everything that Jordan Ellenberg has so eloquently written about!

Book Bingo 2017 - Re-read

Holy wow. I found myself reading whole sections of this out loud to whoever would listen.

The math teachers I loved over the years all shared the same traits as Ellenberg. Same math humor. Same pure love of math -- and realistic view of it. Same desire to tell students that they can be good at math even if they think they don't understand it immediately.

So, yeah, this book gets 5 stars from me.

I went into it a bit warily -- I always do with pop sci books, and after my boyfriend told me I was going to "hate it" because "it does what you complain about -- dumbs down everything", I was a bit worried. But, turns out he doesn't dumb it down so much as actually makes it approachable. He's not fictionalizing some historical facts to make it readable; he's not waving a wand over shit and saying, "And then it does this". He goes deep enough to make his points, and then pulls back. And that is absolutely the right way to write, for both mathematicians (me) and math-phobics (my boyfriend).

I also love how he suggests the power of mathematical thinking is just viewing anything from ALL sides -- and that we should always disprove our beliefs at night. So. Good.

(The only not-good was the limited literature he talked about. Which, actually, is VERY good -- it was just limited. But that's what I should expect from a math book. I just always raise an eyebrow at David Foster Wallace... ;-) )

Great Book!
The only thing i have to criticize is the style of the author. But bear in mind, this is only my personal preference and it could be that you do not care about this at all.
I give you an example: In one moment you are introduced to problem A (part A)... You get a little background about this problem and then you think there will be some explanations, but they are not coming, there is a hard cut.
You are abruptly introduced to even more background knowledge (let us call it part B). And this part is so long that you maybe forget about the real problem (part A). At the end (part C) everything comes together very well. But I wish, the author would have been able to create
a more consistent flow of his train of thought. But as I wrote, this is complaining at a very high level, the book is still excellent!