Overview

"From the author of Zero, comes this ""admirable salvo against quantitative bamboozlement by the media and the government"" (The Boston Globe) In Zero, Charles Seife presented readers with a thrilling account of the strangest number known to humankind. Now he shows readers how the power of skewed metrics-or ""proofiness""- is being used to alter perception in both amusing and dangerous ways. Proofiness is behind such bizarre stories as a mathematical formula for the perfect butt and sprinters who can run faster than the speed of sound. But proofiness also has a dark side: bogus mathematical formulas used to undermine our democracy-subverting our justice system, fixing elections, and swaying public opinion with lies. By doing the real math, Seife elegantly and good-humoredly scrutinizes our growing obsession with metrics while exposing those who misuse them."

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9780143120070

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Reviews

Sprightly written, despite its sobering message. - Kirkus Reviews A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for . . . well, for everyone. - Booklist (Starred review)

Sprightly written, despite its sobering message. <br> - Kirkus Reviews <br> A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for . . . well, for everyone. <br> - Booklist (Starred review)

A delightful and remarkably revealing book that should be required reading for . . . well, for everyone. - Booklist (Starred review)

Author Information

Charles Seife is the author of five previous books, including Proofiness and Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction and was a New York Times notable book. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times, Wired, New Scientist, Science, Scientific American, and The Economist. He is a professor of journalism at New York University and lives in New York City.    

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