The Math Instinct

by Devlin, Keith J.

• ISBN13: 9781560256724
• ISBN10: 1560256729
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-03-27
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

There are two kinds of math: the hard kind and the easy kind. The easy kind, practiced by ants, shrimp, Welsh corgisand usis innate. What innate calculating skills do we humans have? Leaving aside built-in mathematics, such as the visual system, ordinary people do just fine when faced with mathematical tasks in the course of the day. Yet when they are confronted with the same tasks presented as "math," their accuracy often drops. But if we have innate mathematical ability, why do we have to teach math and why do most of us find it so hard to learn? Are there tricks or strategies that the ordinary person can do to improve mathematical ability? Can we improve our math skills by learning from dogs, cats, and other creatures that "do math"? The answer to each of these questions is a qualified yes. All these examples of animal math suggest that if we want to do better in the formal kind of math, we should see how it arises from natural mathematics. From NPR's "Math Guy"The Math Instinct will provide even the most number-phobic among us with confidence in our own mathematical abilities.

Author Biography

Keith Devlin is executive director of Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information and a consulting professor of mathematics at Stanford.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
1 Out of the Minds of Babies	1	(16)
2 Elvis: The Welsh Corgi Who Knows Calculus	17	(12)
3 What Is Mathematics?	29	(10)
4 Where Am I and Where Am I Going?	39	(32)
5 Nature's Architects: The Creatures That Can Do the Math of Construction	71	(20)
6 Natural Artists: The Animals (and Plants) That Create Beautiful Patterns	91	(22)
7 It's Just a Step to the Right: The Math of Motion	113	(14)
8 The Eyes Have It: The Hidden Math of Vision	127	(22)
9 Animals in the Math Class	149	(16)
10 Razor Sharp: The Mathematical Tricks of Street Traders and Supermarket Shoppers	165	(34)
11 All Numbers Great and Small	199	(40)
12 The Trouble with Meaningless Math	239	(10)
13 Tapping into Our Math Instinct	249	(16)
Further Reading	265	(4)
Index	269