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The Arithmetic of Life and Death
Whether you realize it or not, numbers are everywhere--and integral to almost every facet of your life . . . from your next raise in pay to the inevitable rise of inflation, your weekly family budget to your end of the national debt. And as George Shaffner amazingly reveals, there are discerning answers (and a great measure of comfort) in numbers. In The Arithmetic of Life, he applies the basic principles of mathematics--addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division--to some of the most profound and just plain puzzling questions of our time.Illuminated with anecdotes, humor, and insight, each chapter explains a unique part of life that can be understood only through the magic of numbers. Whether it's an unconventional theory on why more things go wrong than right, a simple calculation of how much it will cost you to smoke for a lifetime, why crime (accumulatively) doesn't pay, or a glimpse into the probability of life after death, this enlightening and lucidly reasoned book will forever change the way you think about numbers--and the world around you.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
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70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 8, 2012
The author takes upon all aspects of life with a mathematical bent of mind. The book consists of a number of short anecdotes about life and mathematical calculation of the events and outcomes. I got hooked and purchased this one, when I read one such account, which involved, a teenager deciding to quit his college mid way and his father being furios at his decision. His elder brothers follows a more methodical approach and takes him to a library and both of them get the records of the labor department which shows the statistics of average salary over the degrees earned. They kind of derived a conclusion that, if he just puts in with the college for 2 more years, he would on an average, over his lifetime of next 40+ years, will be earn twice as much as he would earn by dropping out now. If that was divided by hours he is going to spend for next years, the amounted for a cost that is going to get for every hour. That aspect alone, convinces him to put up with just few more years and get done with his degree.
After reading this account, I thought, I should buy and read this book completely. I don't regret it. I loved many stories which were presented. There are many suggestions on how to view situations in life, mathematically and assign values and draw up probabilities. The content is presented in a easy to read manner too. Sometimes, I had to avoid getting int some details, but just understand the overview. Overall, I liked reading this book.
After reading this account, I thought, I should buy and read this book completely. I don't regret it. I loved many stories which were presented. There are many suggestions on how to view situations in life, mathematically and assign values and draw up probabilities. The content is presented in a easy to read manner too. Sometimes, I had to avoid getting int some details, but just understand the overview. Overall, I liked reading this book.
August 18, 2023
I would put this at about 3.5 stars. It's a pretty quick and fun read, with the author "doing the math" on a number of fictionalized scenarios to illustrate various topics in biology, business, cosmology, and even religion. The writing is engaging and often amusing, and the author seems to have particular fun taking frequent potshots at Congress, something I can't really fault him for.
As the book progresses, it seems to lose its focus a little bit, as though the author had a solid plan for the initial chapters but had to dig deep to fill out the rest of the book. Not all of the material is handled with the same precision and care, and some of the chapters' takeaways may seem a little bizarre, such as the reasonable certainty the author seems to have that there is life after death based on the long history of reported ghost sightings.
Of particular interest while reading it in 2023 are the projections that were made about the future relative to the time the book was written in 1998. Back then, the U.S. national debt was a paltry $5.5 trillion, and the budget had been balanced for the first time in a long time during the Clinton administration. Even in that scenario, with the debt not growing, the situation was dire. Would the budget stay balanced? Would we reduce our debt? Would our debt grow? In the latter scenario, the author investigated a three percent annual increase in the debt, which put the 2020 figure at a staggering $10.3 trillion. The actual number in 2020, post 9/11 and all of the adventures we had as a result, was $26.9 trillion. As I write this now, three years later, it's at $32.7 trillion, an amount that it is safe to say will never be paid back.
Even if the book is a little uneven, there is plenty food for thought in here. The sections related to finance and business wound up being the most thought provoking, even for someone like me who finds reading about those topics potentially tedious. If you run across this book in a library or, as I did, in a used book shop, at least leaf through it to see if it catches your interest.
As the book progresses, it seems to lose its focus a little bit, as though the author had a solid plan for the initial chapters but had to dig deep to fill out the rest of the book. Not all of the material is handled with the same precision and care, and some of the chapters' takeaways may seem a little bizarre, such as the reasonable certainty the author seems to have that there is life after death based on the long history of reported ghost sightings.
Of particular interest while reading it in 2023 are the projections that were made about the future relative to the time the book was written in 1998. Back then, the U.S. national debt was a paltry $5.5 trillion, and the budget had been balanced for the first time in a long time during the Clinton administration. Even in that scenario, with the debt not growing, the situation was dire. Would the budget stay balanced? Would we reduce our debt? Would our debt grow? In the latter scenario, the author investigated a three percent annual increase in the debt, which put the 2020 figure at a staggering $10.3 trillion. The actual number in 2020, post 9/11 and all of the adventures we had as a result, was $26.9 trillion. As I write this now, three years later, it's at $32.7 trillion, an amount that it is safe to say will never be paid back.
Even if the book is a little uneven, there is plenty food for thought in here. The sections related to finance and business wound up being the most thought provoking, even for someone like me who finds reading about those topics potentially tedious. If you run across this book in a library or, as I did, in a used book shop, at least leaf through it to see if it catches your interest.
August 24, 2021
"The Arithmetic of Life and Death has no equations or proofs,. just real guidance and inspiration based on Math 101. Loaded with anecdotes and lots of uncommon sense, this thought-provoking primer serves up 'chicken soup for the brain.' The Shaffer formula cuts to the heart of real-life dilemmas great and small. Whether it's the risks of smoking or the advantages of teamwork, the miracle of life or the mysteries of middle management, you'll find new, original, and sound answers in this very special book. Insightful, entertaining, and brimming with unconventional wisdom, The Arithmetic of Life and Death shows us how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide our way to deeper understanding. It will forever change the way you think about the world."
~~back cover
What can I say? I'm dyscalculate, so reading about doing math makes me run and hide. I'm sure if you're not dyscalculate this would be an interesting book.
~~back cover
What can I say? I'm dyscalculate, so reading about doing math makes me run and hide. I'm sure if you're not dyscalculate this would be an interesting book.
November 29, 2023
Some math, no message at all. The book did not seem to have a point beyond that arithmetic exists.
September 12, 2013
Human beings are terribly bad at numbers especially large numbers and probability. This books consists of short fictional episodes that explain many aspects of our lives in numbers such as sports, incomes, life expectancy, risks and etc. that are indeed matters of life and death. Some of data are outdated - the book was published first in early 2000s, I believe,- some of the topics are not very interesting at least to me, but the way the author explains rather hard numbers and probability with interesting fictional omnibus episodes helps feel the numbers well.
If a reader does not like numbers at all, this book may bring a little headache though none of arithmetic or statistics goes too wonkish. One possible complain about the book is that the book loses its focus a bit because it tries to cover wide range of topics in very short episodes. The whole book runs just about 200 pages.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. We needs to be numerically more literate.
If a reader does not like numbers at all, this book may bring a little headache though none of arithmetic or statistics goes too wonkish. One possible complain about the book is that the book loses its focus a bit because it tries to cover wide range of topics in very short episodes. The whole book runs just about 200 pages.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. We needs to be numerically more literate.
January 15, 2016
The book is well done. I would have liked to have given it a half a star more (It is better than three stars but not quite a four star book.) and I would recommend it for those casually interested in the application of math to some of life or for a high school to early university aged individual needing some help with making sense of the adult world (I could have used some of this at that age.). I found the essay "Life after Death" the most interesting of the reads.
March 29, 2016
This book is twenty years old, which means the statistics aren't up to date. Yet, the arguments presented still apply, one need only look up more current data.
While I vehemently disagreed with the premise's thoughts on how to fix math education (just skip the preface), the rest was very well written and reasoned. The title very accurately describes this collection of essays, and I look forward to reading it with my students.
While I vehemently disagreed with the premise's thoughts on how to fix math education (just skip the preface), the rest was very well written and reasoned. The title very accurately describes this collection of essays, and I look forward to reading it with my students.
August 13, 2009
This book was 3 out of 5 stars. It became extremely slow at times and even hard to follow with the statistics and so forth. But good insight every now and then.
July 26, 2011
very insightful
August 22, 2013
Good read. Recommended.
February 13, 2016
I really liked this book. I least enjoyed reading the middle parts, though. The ones concerning business and politics
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews