Product Description

Acclaim for "In today′s world, ′innumeracy′ is an even greater danger than illiteracy, and is perhaps even more common. Advertisers and politicians exploit it; intellectuals (self–styled) even flaunt it. I hope that this wise and witty book will provide cures where they are possible, and warnings where they are necessary.

"It′s also a lot of fun. I can guarantee that 100%."––Arthur C. Clarke

"Dewdney retells with charm and wit magnificent morsels of mathematical mayhem discovered by his army of volunteer ′abuse detectives.′ From ′sample trashing′ to ′numerical terrorism,′ from ′percentage pumping′ to ′dimensional dementia,′ 200% of Nothing plumbs the depths of innumeracy in daily life and reveals what ordinary people can do about it.

A rich, readable, instructive, and persuasive book."––Lynn Arthur Steen, Professor of Mathematics, St. Olaf College

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1303221 in Books
• Published on: 1996-03-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .54" h x 5.74" w x 8.73" l, .54 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
If you know the difference between lies, damned lies and statistics, give a copy of A K Dewdney's 200% of Nothing to your friends to get them up to speed. If you're not up to speed yourself, consider this funny, engaging little book a crash course in numeracy, the mathematical equivalent of literacy. Opening with two chapters on the importance of this dying talent, Dewdney (formerly Scientific American's "Mathematical Recreations" writer) spooks the reader with real examples of government agencies, media outlets and--of course--car salesmen deceiving their audiences with beguiling mathematical sleights-of-hand.

It's all too easy for us to think we're immune to such tactics until we actually see them laid out for us in prose as clear and disarming as Dewdney's. From there he delves more deeply into practical examples of particular problems that often catch us unaware. Gambling, advertisements using bizarre-but-normal-looking charts and bad science all come in for thorough examinations, and the reader is amazed and occasionally angered at the shamelessness of the purveyors of misleading statistics.

The book closes with two chapters designed to make readers "mathematically streetwise", with exercises to help you grasp ratios, very large and small numbers and probabilities more intuitively. 200% of Nothing inspires learning and makes it interesting--if you want to see through the fog of numbers surrounding politicians and advertisements, there's no better place to start. --Rob Lightner

From the Back Cover
Acclaim for "In today′s world, ′innumeracy′ is an even greater danger than illiteracy, and is perhaps even more common. Advertisers and politicians exploit it; intellectuals (self–styled) even flaunt it. I hope that this wise and witty book will provide cures where they are possible, and warnings where they are necessary.

"It′s also a lot of fun. I can guarantee that 100%."—Arthur C. Clarke

"Dewdney retells with charm and wit magnificent morsels of mathematical mayhem discovered by his army of volunteer ′abuse detectives.′ From ′sample trashing′ to ′numerical terrorism,′ from ′percentage pumping′ to ′dimensional dementia,′ 200% of Nothing plumbs the depths of innumeracy in daily life and reveals what ordinary people can do about it.

A rich, readable, instructive, and persuasive book."—Lynn Arthur Steen, Professor of Mathematics, St. Olaf College

About the Author
A. K. DEWDNEY, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario. Well–known for his popular "Mathematical Recreations" column, which ran in Scientific American for more than eight years, he is also the author of several books, including The Armchair Universe and The Planiverse: Computer Contact with a Two–Dimensional World.