John Allen Paulos

John Allen Paulos (born July 4, 1945 in Denver ) is a mathematics professor at Temple University in Philadelphia . He has written several accessible books on mathematics , particularly number illiteracy .

Paulos grew up in Chicago and Milwaukee . He received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin . His academic work mainly includes mathematical logic and probability theory .

Quote

Illiterate mathematicians tend to dramatically overestimate the frequency of coincidences and attach great importance to all kinds of matches, while conclusive, not-so-spectacular statistical evidence makes far less impression on them.

bibliography

• A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market (2003)
• Once Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories (1998)
• A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper (1995)
• Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man (1991)
• Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences (1989)
• I Think Therefore I Laugh: The Flip Side of Philosophy (1985)
• Mathematics & Humor (1980)

in German:

• Number blind . Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. Munich, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag 1990. ISBN 3-453-03623-9
• I laugh therefore I am . Invitation to philosophy. Frankfurt / Main, Campus 1988 series. ISBN 3-593-34000-3

Web links

• Literature by and about John Allen Paulos in the catalog of the German National Library