The Math of Life and Death: 7 Mathematical Principles That Shape Our Lives
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- Create Date：2021-07-15 06:51:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Kit Yates
- ISBN：1982111887
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Summary
Brilliant and entertaining mathematician Kit Yates illuminates seven mathematical concepts that shape our daily lives。
From birthdays to birth rates to how we perceive the passing of time， mathematical patterns shape our lives。 But for those of us who left math behind in high school， the numbers and figures we encounter as we go about our days can leave us scratching our heads， feeling as if we’re fumbling through a mathematical minefield。 In this eye-opening and “welcome addition to the math-for-people-who-hate-math” （Kirkus Reviews）， Kit Yates illuminates hidden principles that can help us understand and navigate the chaotic and often opaque surfaces of our world。
In The Math of Life and Death， Yates takes us on a “dizzying， dazzling” （Nature） tour of everyday situations and grand-scale applications of mathematical concepts， including exponential growth and decay， optimization， statistics and probability， and number systems。 Along the way he reveals the mathematical undersides of controversies over DNA testing， Ponzi schemes， viral marketing， and historical events such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Amanda Knox trial。 Readers will finish this book with an enlightened perspective on the news， the law， medicine， and history， and will be better equipped to make personal decisions and solve problems with math in mind， whether it’s choosing the shortest checkout line at the grocery store or halting the spread of a deadly disease。
From birthdays to birth rates to how we perceive the passing of time， mathematical patterns shape our lives。 But for those of us who left math behind in high school， the numbers and figures we encounter as we go about our days can leave us scratching our heads， feeling as if we’re fumbling through a mathematical minefield。 In this eye-opening and “welcome addition to the math-for-people-who-hate-math” （Kirkus Reviews）， Kit Yates illuminates hidden principles that can help us understand and navigate the chaotic and often opaque surfaces of our world。
In The Math of Life and Death， Yates takes us on a “dizzying， dazzling” （Nature） tour of everyday situations and grand-scale applications of mathematical concepts， including exponential growth and decay， optimization， statistics and probability， and number systems。 Along the way he reveals the mathematical undersides of controversies over DNA testing， Ponzi schemes， viral marketing， and historical events such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Amanda Knox trial。 Readers will finish this book with an enlightened perspective on the news， the law， medicine， and history， and will be better equipped to make personal decisions and solve problems with math in mind， whether it’s choosing the shortest checkout line at the grocery store or halting the spread of a deadly disease。
Reviews
Kyle
，
Very interesting book about the daily influence mathematics on our lives。
Paulo Glez Ogando
，
As an applied mathematician， the author sees mathematial modelling as an advantage in everyday situations， designed to capture our intricate and complex reality。 Yates says that this it is not a book for mathematicians， for you there's no equations in this books。 But I think everyone can read it， even mathematicians; it's a well written book， hugely interesting because it can broaden your knowledge， you pefectly can learn something new。 And all the topics are well linked and explained， in a way As an applied mathematician， the author sees mathematial modelling as an advantage in everyday situations， designed to capture our intricate and complex reality。 Yates says that this it is not a book for mathematicians， for you there's no equations in this books。 But I think everyone can read it， even mathematicians; it's a well written book， hugely interesting because it can broaden your knowledge， you pefectly can learn something new。 And all the topics are well linked and explained， in a way that can engage you。He tells the mathematics in a simple way， almost as a story。 He wants to exemplify the influence of maths by demonstrating its effects on people's lives。 There are seven chapters in which he explores events in which the application or misapplication of mathematics has played a critical role: genetics， economy， justice， diseases， and many more。 。。。more
Hypatia
，
Pretty entertaining and well written。 I’m not really the target audience for this， but it seemed like a pretty accessible explanation of ways math influences our lives， and why we should all have some level of mathematical literacy。The last chapter was 。。interesting。 I really feel sorry for the author， having published a chapter on mathematical epidemiology （subtitle: “how to stop an epidemic”） in January of 2020。 At the time of reading， I’m pretty sure absolutely everyone is aware of contact tr Pretty entertaining and well written。 I’m not really the target audience for this， but it seemed like a pretty accessible explanation of ways math influences our lives， and why we should all have some level of mathematical literacy。The last chapter was 。。interesting。 I really feel sorry for the author， having published a chapter on mathematical epidemiology （subtitle: “how to stop an epidemic”） in January of 2020。 At the time of reading， I’m pretty sure absolutely everyone is aware of contact tracing， quarantine to break transmission， and the meaning of R-naught。 I laughed out loud when I got to the line “it’s impractical in the real world to quarantine a high proportion of the population for a long time。” Still， it was an interesting book， and while I don’t think I learned a lot， I’m not exactly the target audience， so I didn’t expect to。 。。。more
Donald Hardy
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Read it， or listen to it， as self protection the next time you’re in an ICU， just one of many “small” benefits of becoming a bit more aware of how math influences human behavior。
Iva Jar
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Jsem stoprocentně ta správná cílová skupina pro tuto knihu。 Zaujala mě na první pohled。Věřím ale， že i ti， kdo nejsou takoví matematičtí nadšenci， si mohou užít příběhy， které byly způsobeny špatnou interpretací statistických výsledků nebo se nechat uklidnit polopatisticky podanými informacemi， např。 v oblasti interpretace výsledků testů mamografu nebo objevit kouzlo， které zduvodňuje velkou část fungování placebo efektu。Podle mě autor velmi čtivou formou a normálním jazykem， bez přemíry odborný Jsem stoprocentně ta správná cílová skupina pro tuto knihu。 Zaujala mě na první pohled。Věřím ale， že i ti， kdo nejsou takoví matematičtí nadšenci， si mohou užít příběhy， které byly způsobeny špatnou interpretací statistických výsledků nebo se nechat uklidnit polopatisticky podanými informacemi， např。 v oblasti interpretace výsledků testů mamografu nebo objevit kouzlo， které zduvodňuje velkou část fungování placebo efektu。Podle mě autor velmi čtivou formou a normálním jazykem， bez přemíry odborných pojmů， ukazuje， že se hodí občas se zamyslet nad jednoduchou matematikou kolem nás。 Některé případy vyznívají docela desivě， ale všechny beze zbytku jsou zajímavé。Doporučuji i těm， koho matematika ve škole nebavila。 Na této knize snad pochopíte， proč někoho může bavit víc， než jakákoli jiná věda。 。。。more
John Fredrickson
，
This is a good book， but it felt uneven to me。 Many of the chapters are outstanding。 The material is definitely well-written， though some of the material definitely gets a little tough to follow。 One chapter which seemed weirdly out of place in this volume addresses the standardization of time zones across the globe。
Khawaja Saud Masud
，
Surprisingly digestable。 Not overloaded with mathematical equations but rather written around application of math in our lives from justice to pandemics。 Enjoyed it。
Jef
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Kit Yates vertelt over toepassingen van de wiskunde in de biologie en het dagelijkse leven zonder ook maar 1 formule af te drukken。 Hoe wordt statistiek in de rechtbank ge- en misbruikt， hoe zit het met argumenten van de wapenlobby in de US， wat liep er fout in de Varkensbaai。 En， hoewel het boek in 2019 geschreven werd， een heel hoofdstuk over ziekte-epidemiologie dat vandaag razend actueel is。 Daarin wordt onder meer Andrew Wakefield aangehaald die voor een zak vol geld zijn ziel verkocht aan Kit Yates vertelt over toepassingen van de wiskunde in de biologie en het dagelijkse leven zonder ook maar 1 formule af te drukken。 Hoe wordt statistiek in de rechtbank ge- en misbruikt， hoe zit het met argumenten van de wapenlobby in de US， wat liep er fout in de Varkensbaai。 En， hoewel het boek in 2019 geschreven werd， een heel hoofdstuk over ziekte-epidemiologie dat vandaag razend actueel is。 Daarin wordt onder meer Andrew Wakefield aangehaald die voor een zak vol geld zijn ziel verkocht aan de duivel - of eerder aan een groep advocaten die op dat moment een artikel tegen vaccins nodig hadden ook al was het een nepartikel， en die daarmee de antivaxxersbeweging een zetje gaf en zo waarschijnlijk een van de grote massamoordenaars van de vorige eeuw werd。 。。。more
Jindroush
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Výborné povídání o matematice， a co víc， v dnešní době， dobrý pohled na všechna vysvětlení o čísle R， SIR modelu a šíření nemocí， což někteří z nás mají dobře nastudováno z té situace okolo nás。
Abhi Hiremagalur
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The most important book I've read in a while。 The most important book I've read in a while。 。。。more
Sarah83 sbookshelf
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"Traue keiner Statistik， die du nicht selbst gefälscht hast！" Dieser Ausspruch， der auf die Anfänge meiner beruflichen Tätigkeit zurückgeht， hat bis heute an seinem Wahrheitsgehalt nichts eingebüßt。 Denn wenn man das vorliegende Buch zu Rate zieht， kommt man doch noch mehr ins Grübeln， wenn man irgendwelche Statistiken， Auswertungen oder Meinungen liest。Warum？ Nun ganz einfach， das Buch zeigt an den Bereichen Wissenschaft， Gerichtsbarkeit， Medien， Politik etc。 auf， wie Mathematik oder ggf auch e "Traue keiner Statistik， die du nicht selbst gefälscht hast！" Dieser Ausspruch， der auf die Anfänge meiner beruflichen Tätigkeit zurückgeht， hat bis heute an seinem Wahrheitsgehalt nichts eingebüßt。 Denn wenn man das vorliegende Buch zu Rate zieht， kommt man doch noch mehr ins Grübeln， wenn man irgendwelche Statistiken， Auswertungen oder Meinungen liest。Warum？ Nun ganz einfach， das Buch zeigt an den Bereichen Wissenschaft， Gerichtsbarkeit， Medien， Politik etc。 auf， wie Mathematik oder ggf auch einfach Zahlen dazu benutzt werden， um eine bestimmte Meinung zu untermauern oder eine bestimmte Meinung zu schüren。Wie das geht？ Nun dafür gibt es zu viele Beispiele in dem Buch， um sie hier alle aufzuzählen。 Denn bei jeder Statistik stellt sich die Frage， wer hat sie zu welchem Zweck beauftragt。 Jedes Mal direkt von Profit zu sprechen， wäre sicherlich übertrieben， doch was fällt auf， wenn man sagt "82% sind zufrieden"？ Hört sich erstmal gut an？ Ok， in dem Buch wird aber hinterfragt， wovon 82%。。。 "82% von 34 Personen"。。 Ok。。。 Das ist nicht viel。。。 und wenn ich dann noch anmerke， dass "zufrieden" als Antwort vorgegeben und keine aktive Wortfindung der Person war， wird es noch mehr relativiert。Dabei muss man sagen， der Autor sagt nicht per se jede Statistik ist schlecht， nein， das wäre falsch。 Nur sollte man sich seiner Meinung nach nicht von % blenden lassen， sondern ihre Herkunft hinterfragen。 Denn Zahlen werden von Menschen gemacht und Menschen machen Fehler。 Wie schnell hat man eine Wahrscheinlichkeit berechnet， bei der man meint， zwei Faktoren sind voneinander abhängig， um dann bei näherer Betrachtung festzustellen， dass die Faktoren unabhängig sind und sich dadurch eine ganz andere Wahrscheinlichkeit ergibt？Und genau da liegt das Problem。 Dadurch dass Mathematik in allen Bereichen des alltäglichen Lebens genutzt wird， ist der Schaden， der durch eine falsche Berechnung zutage kommen kann， manchmal gar ein Menschenleben （siehe Kapitel Gerichtsbarkeit）。 Mathematik ist ein Werkzeug， dass den Menschen helfen soll， ihren Alltag zu meistern und Kit Yates will dem Leser die Sinne schärfen， für das， was ihm als "echte Zahl" oder "wissenschaftlich fundiert" verkauft wird。Ein Buch， was sich der Leser im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes wirklich erarbeiten muss， denn der Autor zeigt an vielen Rechen- und Zahlenbeispielen auf， wie schnell eine Meinung zu revidieren ist， wenn man die falschen Bezugsgrößen nimmt。 Trotzdem ist das Buch für Leser， die sich für Mathematik， Statistiken oder auch für die Aufmachung von Nachrichten interessiert， ein Buch， das die Sinne schärft und den Wunsch aufkommen lässt， sich mit manchen Nachrichten mehr zu beschäftigen und nicht nur die Überschrift sacken zu lassen。4 von 5 Heureka-Momenten 。。。more
Melvin R。 Blann IV
，
I’m a sucker for books written by mathematicians that explain how mathematical concepts are misused and misunderstood in areas such as medicine， science， the news media， legal systems， investing， etc。 This book is very solid， and a very easy read （a remarkable feat in my experience considering it was written by a mathematician）， but I found myself a bit bored halfway through the book。 It then struck me that I’ve read at least a half dozen similar books explaining the same concepts， sometimes ret I’m a sucker for books written by mathematicians that explain how mathematical concepts are misused and misunderstood in areas such as medicine， science， the news media， legal systems， investing， etc。 This book is very solid， and a very easy read （a remarkable feat in my experience considering it was written by a mathematician）， but I found myself a bit bored halfway through the book。 It then struck me that I’ve read at least a half dozen similar books explaining the same concepts， sometimes retelling the same stories （as there are legendary stories of the misapplication of mathematics/statistics in history） so perhaps the repetitiveness of the concepts has finally fatigued me。 However， I really enjoyed his take on the miscalculation and misrepresentation of risk in medicine， the legal system， and the news media。 And， of course， the portions of the book where he discusses the use of relative risk versus absolute risk were my favorite parts （because charlatans use relative risk to further their agendas）。 This is one of the better books in the genre， in my opinion， and would be a good pick for anyone looking for a good introduction into the identification of mathematical/statistical malpractice in everyday life。 However， if you’re looking for a deeper dive into the concept you may be disappointed because this book is very topical in nature。 。。。more
Gregp
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6 out of 10
Kasey
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Interesting Enough。 Not something I would go out of my way to recommend， but some intriguing thoughts。 I think what I took away from this book most was that there is more math involved in our life than we realized and that we often think of math as removed from reality， but that's because when we think of "real-life" math， we typically think of it as science。 Also， it's important to be an informed consumer by questioning the math behind many things we take as "facts。" Interesting Enough。 Not something I would go out of my way to recommend， but some intriguing thoughts。 I think what I took away from this book most was that there is more math involved in our life than we realized and that we often think of math as removed from reality， but that's because when we think of "real-life" math， we typically think of it as science。 Also， it's important to be an informed consumer by questioning the math behind many things we take as "facts。" 。。。more
Thomas
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This is an engaging and fascinating journey through the world of mathematics， even if you’re as math-challenged as I am。 I may not be a math geek， but I understand how it underpins everything。 Reality itself can be described with it。Mathematics can save us or destroy us。 Its application has made our lives easier and better while at the same time its misapplication could ruin or even end us if we’re not careful。 The author presents many examples of why we need it as well as the myriad ways it can This is an engaging and fascinating journey through the world of mathematics， even if you’re as math-challenged as I am。 I may not be a math geek， but I understand how it underpins everything。 Reality itself can be described with it。Mathematics can save us or destroy us。 Its application has made our lives easier and better while at the same time its misapplication could ruin or even end us if we’re not careful。 The author presents many examples of why we need it as well as the myriad ways it can go catastrophically wrong。 I found the last chapter particularly applicable to the current pandemic。Though this book can feel a little dry at times， I can’t help but forgive the author for that considering the value of this information。 I feel smarter now。 。。。more
Joanne
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I'm not sure what made me pick this book， but it was very interesting。 So many things in our lives are affected by math and he does a great job of explaining them。 I'm not sure what made me pick this book， but it was very interesting。 So many things in our lives are affected by math and he does a great job of explaining them。 。。。more
Erik
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I enjoyed this book very much。 The first chapter on exponential growth and decay was nothing new， because I was already very familiar with the subject， but the rest of the chapters all taught me something interesting。 The author does a great job of illustrating the importance of mathematical concepts through engaging stories without digging much into actual calculations except in the most cursory way。 I found the discussion on selectivity and specificity for medical tests to have a particularly I enjoyed this book very much。 The first chapter on exponential growth and decay was nothing new， because I was already very familiar with the subject， but the rest of the chapters all taught me something interesting。 The author does a great job of illustrating the importance of mathematical concepts through engaging stories without digging much into actual calculations except in the most cursory way。 I found the discussion on selectivity and specificity for medical tests to have a particularly important takeaway message。 That message is that if you get a positive result on a test for some disease， don't freak out until it gets verified。 The author gives an example of the ELISA test for HIV。 It is reported to have a selectivity of essentially 100% meaning that if you truly have HIV， the test will catch it nearly 100% of the time。 The test has specificity of 99。7% meaning that if you don't have HIV， the test will correctly tell you that you don't have HIV 99。7% of the time。 Reading those numbers， a person receiving a positive test result may assume that they are almost certain to have HIV。 However， what the specificity means is that 0。3% of people who don't have HIV will receive a false positive。 Out of one million people， average actual infection rates indicate that about 1600 people will actually have HIV。 Of the remaining people who don't have HIV， 0。3% or nearly 3000 people will receive a false positive test result。 So if a million people were tested， about 4600 will receive positive results， but only 1600 of those actually have HIV。 The author doesn't emphasize this point， but in order to do this calculation， some idea of the actual prevalence of the disease is required。Also， the last chapter on disease has taken on new importance now that we have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and its results。 This book was published just prior to COVID becoming big news， so it doesn't mention our current pandemic， but talk about principles that are very apropos to the current situation。 。。。more
Ian Jobe
，
This book was a pleasant surprise and really enjoyable to read。 It's well written and I never feel bored or having to slog through。 Instead， I found myself appreciating how easily the author explains the many mathematical concepts。You do need some basic math competency to understand this book but given how practical his ideas are to everyday lives and situations， I would recommend this book to just about anyone This book was a pleasant surprise and really enjoyable to read。 It's well written and I never feel bored or having to slog through。 Instead， I found myself appreciating how easily the author explains the many mathematical concepts。You do need some basic math competency to understand this book but given how practical his ideas are to everyday lives and situations， I would recommend this book to just about anyone 。。。more
Wendy Bunnell
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Interesting non-fiction， but a lot of it wasn't news for me， having worked in health insurance for over a decade。 Interesting non-fiction， but a lot of it wasn't news for me， having worked in health insurance for over a decade。 。。。more
Mary
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The Math of Life and Death was all the things I love in non-fiction: interesting narration， story driven， fact filled！ Yates takes the reader on an engaging view into math in law and medicine to media statistics to time zones to pandemic math and beyond。
Shawn
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An excellent survey of the ways in which mathematics profoundly affects our lives even if we personally know very little math。 The emphasis tends to be on statistics and the parts on medicine/health care and mathematics are especially interesting given our present situation with the Covid pandemic。The author himself narrates， a feature that I generally like。 In this case， he does a fine job of it。
Patricia DeBoe
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This was fascinating！ Math surrounds us and most of us don’t even realize how interwoven it truly is in our daily life。 I found the parts about BMI being mostly bogus and the part about genetic testing particularly interesting。 Yet another great non-fiction read in 2021。
Jia
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Really liked the book， but would recommend basic high school math knowledge。*4。15*
Clayton Ellis
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I learned a lot and it helped generate some excellent ideas for the classroom too。
Kavinay
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Good grief， an alternate title could very well be "2020: all the ways the world will quantitatively fall apart。" Good grief， an alternate title could very well be "2020: all the ways the world will quantitatively fall apart。" 。。。more
Beth Williams
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SUCH an important read！！ Excellent。
Juan Camilo Vélez Johnson
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Nota al margen: Si van a escribir reseñas， no las dejen para después。 Escriban de una porque lo leído desafortunadamente se olvida。El subtítulo de este libro fue realmente lo que me enganchó para comprarlo y para leerlo （Acuérdense que un hobby es comprar libros y otro muy distinto es leerlos） "7 principios matemáticos que dan forma a nuestra existencia。 Al principio me imaginé de todo tipo de curiosidades naturales， biológicas y astronómicas sin embargo cuando empecé a leer me encontré más bien Nota al margen: Si van a escribir reseñas， no las dejen para después。 Escriban de una porque lo leído desafortunadamente se olvida。El subtítulo de este libro fue realmente lo que me enganchó para comprarlo y para leerlo （Acuérdense que un hobby es comprar libros y otro muy distinto es leerlos） "7 principios matemáticos que dan forma a nuestra existencia。 Al principio me imaginé de todo tipo de curiosidades naturales， biológicas y astronómicas sin embargo cuando empecé a leer me encontré más bien con las matemáticas aplicadas a la vida cotidiana。La medicina， la forma de contar， la publicidad y hasta la justicia。 Particularmente amigo lector de mis reseñas le cuento que leí este libro en media pandemia de Covid-19 en el año 2021 y que además de los temas anteriores， en este libro coincidencialmente me encontré las matemáticas de la propagación de un virus。El libro en términos generales está bien escrito y los ejemplos usados， casi todos ellos historias de la vida real， dan cuenta de un matemático investigador juicioso detrás de la obra。 Kit Yates es un biólogo que se introdujo al mudo de las matemáticas y lo que se encontró como resultado fue muy apasionante según cuenta， pero además de gran ayuda para el mundo y la ciencia dado que esta combinación resulta ser bastante potente cuando se aplica a problemáticas reales。Ustedes saben que mi estilo de reseña busca más comentarle mi opinión y emociones sentidas al leer el libro y no tanto contarle el relato de lo que el libro expone， sin embargo hay cosas curiosas que tengo que decir para antojarlo de leer este libro。 Impresionante cómo se equivocan los resultados de los exámenes médicos debido a un tema meramente matemático， ese capítulo es violento de interesante y mi enseñanza es que siempre es mejor una segunda verificación。 Por eso los invito a que no se queden sólo con esta reseña y vayan a leer un par más antes de leer el libro。 （Aquí t la de mi gran amigo Jorge Zuluaga）。Otro dato curioso que me encantó leerlo y además me obligó a ser mejor ciudadano y evitar problemas con la justicia es el altísimo número de posibilidades que tienes de ser declarado culpable siendo inocente cuándo un fiscal pone como prueba reina de su acusación una estadística sacada de alguna autoridad válida。 Ve por tu vida con cuidado y si se mete en problemas con la ley， dígale a su abogado que le de una leída a este libro。Por último les cuento que yo por decisión personal de bienestar hace 6 años no veo noticias。 En el libro entendí cómo justificar matemáticamente que no vale la pena verlas porque están plagadas de errores matemáticos que nos hacen ver la vida más negra de lo que realmente es。 Ustedes saben que soy posibilista y que por más mal que esté la vaina， con toda seguridad estamos mejor que en cualquier momento del pasado。Cierro la reseña diciéndole que si usted cumple con alguno de los atributos a continuación， usted debería leer este libro:- A usted no le gustan las matemáticas pero le gusta saber cómo funcionan las cosas。- Usted es curioso y le encantan los datos curiosos。- A usted le encanta hablar de temas de los que casi nadie sabe。- A usted le gustan las lecturas que lo ponen moderadamente a pensar sobre lo que está leyendo。- Usted es o trabaja en publicidad， periodismo， medicina， derecho， ingeniería de sistemas o software。 。。。more
Justin Koch
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Really enjoyable and entertaining， but certainly more focused on statistics than just math in general。 I guess the highest compliment I can pay the author is that there’s some concepts in here that I was wholly acquainted with but still enjoyed reviewing them because of his style。
Peter
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Fun， but important read。 We all need to improve our general numeracy skills for critical thinking。
Cherie Gardner
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