Mathematical logic

The Hidden Mathematical Logic Of Stories: Stock Market, Life Lessons (1998)

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John Allen Paulos (born July 4, 1945) is an American professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has gained fame as a writer and speaker on mathematics and the importance of mathematical literacy. Paulos writes about many subjects, especially of the dangers of mathematical innumeracy; that is, the layperson's misconceptions about numbers, probability, logic. Paulos was born in Denver Colorado and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In an interview he described himself as lifelong skeptic.[1] He went to high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his Bachelor of Mathematics at University of Wisconsin (1967) and his Master of Science at University of Washington (1968) he received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1974). He was also part of the Peace Corps in the seventies. His academic work is mainly in mathematical logic and probability theory. His book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences (1988) was an influential bestseller and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper (1995) extended the critique. In his books Paulos discusses innumeracy with quirky anecdotes, scenarios and facts, encouraging readers in the end to look at their world in a more quantitative way. He has also written on other subjects, such as the mathematical and philosophical basis of humor in Mathematics and Humor and I Think, Therefore I Laugh,the stock market in A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market, quantitative aspects of narrative in Once Upon a Number, and the arguments for God in Irreligion. Paulos also wrote a mathematics-tinged column for the UK newspaper The Guardian and is a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry fellow (formally known as Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)).[3] Paulos has appeared frequently on radio and television, including a four-part BBC adaptation of A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper and appearances on the Lehrer News Hour, 20/20, Larry King, and David Letterman.[4] In 2001 Paulos introduced and taught a course on quantitative literacy for journalists at the Columbia University School of Journalism. The course stimulated further programs at Columbia and elsewhere in precision and data-driven journalism, programs that have now become common. His long-running "ABCNews.com" monthly column Who's Counting[5] deals with mathematical aspects of stories in the news. All the columns over a 10- year period are archived here. Books: Mathematics & Humor: A Study of the Logic of Humor. University Of Chicago. 1980. ISBN 978-0-226-65024-1. I Think Therefore I Laugh: The Flip Side of Philosophy. Columbia University Press. 1985. ISBN 978-0-231-06031-8. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences. Hill and Wang. 1988. ISBN 978-0-670-83008-4. Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man. Knopf. 1991. ISBN 978-0-394-58640-3. A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper. Basic Books. 1995. ISBN 978-0-465-04362-0. Once Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories. Basic Books. 1998. ISBN 978-0-465-05158-8. A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market. Basic Books. 2003. ISBN 978-0-465-05480-0. (British edition titled A Mathematician Plays the Market) Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. Hill and Wang. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8090-5919-5. Miscellaneous Writings "He Conquered the Conjecture", essay by Paulos on Grigory Perelman from The New York Review of Books Metric Mania Measuring Bacteria With a Yardstick Romantic Crushes and Bayes Theorem Stories vs. Statistics, NYT Opinionator piece How Much Oil Is Spilling? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Allen_Paulos