Return to my Book Review pages
Go to my home page
Book Review, © Copyright 1999, Jim Loy
This book is a classic. "Innumeracy" means "mathematical illiteracy." Mr. Paulos is often credited with inventing the word, but he says that it was in the Oxford Dictionary in the 1950's. The word is now fairly popular, thanks (in part) to this book. In the book, we find that innumeracy is a widespread, serious problem, which is harming the U.S. and the world. The book is fascinating, filled with many delightful examples of innumeracy.
Educated, literate people are often abysmal at simple math. And they often brag about it, which people would never do about illiteracy. The chapters:
A delightful and important book.
Addendum:
I received email from a man who said that he was terrible at math, and that had not harmed him in any way. Well, it may have limited his choice of occupations. And it may keep him from saving money at the grocery store. And it may prevent him from discovering that he is being cheated by any number of scams. I suspect that he is probably being harmed by his lack of skills.
Mr. Paulos has written a sequel, Beyond Innumeracy.
To order Innumeracy, click Amazon.com (goes directly to this book). To order Beyond Innumeracy, click Amazon.com.