Whether we like math or not, numbers are all around us. In A Numerate Life, Temple Universty mathematician John Allen Paulos (A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper) uses stories from his own life to demonstrate why numbers are so important. He’ll bring some of these anecdotes (including how the Bush presidency was all Paulos’ fault) to explain why memory, creativity, and even boredom are influenced by math. What math makes an interesting story? How does nonlinear dynamics explain differences in siblings? Why does one person’s brain interpret something differently from another person? Paulos will have the answers to these and other questions in what’s sure to be an engaging (and calculated) discussion of numbers.
