Steven Strogatz is here to help you out. Strogatz is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. Every Monday he writes a column in the NY Times to explain math in very straight forward terms. Many of us have math phobias and this is a great opportunity to learn from a great mathematician and teacher. He has used his talents in other areas with public radio appearances and DVD’s aimed at helping people understand math.
How many digits can you multiply in your head? For most normal people single digit multiplication is generally possible while two-digit multiplication can quickly become out of reach. Mathematical prodigies are capable of multiplying very large numbers. But multiplying is not the only thing that some of them can do. They can go backwards and derive the factors and roots of numbers to a very high level of precision. One such prodigy is a funny 70 year old woman from India called Shakuntala Devi. She is the only prodigy that I have actually seen live. It’s not an experience that can be forgotten easily.
A common experience when shopping is to see price discounts expressed in percentage terms. "All items are 25% off". That's easy enough to understand. How about situations where you see signs that say "Take a further 15% off at the register"? This is where complications arise. If an item costs $100 and you see these two signs what do you think is the final discounted price of the item? Multiple percentage changes are often used by stores and for good reason. Recent research shows that consumers are not very good at calculating multiple percentage changes and in fact make predictable mistakes. The researchers show that these mistakes can be rectified in certain ways and that there is a clear economic cost to consumers when such mistakes are made.
Leave it to an MIT student to ask and answer improbable questions about the Boston Marathon.
Mathematics and humor are words that rarely go together. But they do coexist in the person of John Allen Paulos. He certainly has the math part down as a professor of said subject at Temple University in Philadelphia. Evidence of the humor part can be found in any of his various books and writings. His particular contribution is in showing the lack of basic mathematical heft in much of the public discourse. But he does it in simple language, with wit and without equations, seamlessly combining the left and right brains.
