Name: How Not to Be Wrong
ISBN: 9781594205224

How Not to Be Wrong

A brilliant tour of mathematical thought and a guide to becoming a better thinker, How Not to Be Wrong shows that math is not just a long list of rules to be learned and carried out by rote. Math touches everything we do; It's what makes the world make sense. Using the mathematician's methods and hard-won insights-minus the jargon-professor and popular columnist Jordan Ellenberg guides general readers through his ideas with rigor and lively irreverence, infusing everything from election results to baseball to the existence of God and the psychology of slime molds with a heightened sense of clarity and wonder. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see the hidden structures beneath the messy and chaotic surface of our daily lives. How Not to Be Wrong shows us how--Publisher's description.

What Hacker News says

joshp11235Jun 2025

How not to be wrong

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mindcrimeJan 2023

Maybe not "made me better at math" per-se, but definitely "made me more enthusiastic about math":

The Universe Speaks in Numbers[1] by Graham Farmelo

I found this very motivating and insightful, in terms of developing even more of an appreciation for how much math underpins other branches of science. Not that that is a novel insight by any means... but the details of the incidents where breakthroughs in mathematics allowed further advances in physics, etc. and looking at the "back and forth" between the domains, that was wildly interesting to me. Reading this book definitely helped motivate me to get serious about committing more time / focus to studying mathematics.

I also enjoyed the "counterpoint" book by Sabine Hosenfelder, Lost in Math[2]. I think these two books complement each other nicely.

Then the handful of additional (no pun intended) books that jump to mind would be:

- How Mathematicians Think by William Byers[3]

- How to Think Like a Mathematician by Kevin Houston[4]

- Discrete Mathematics with Applications[5] by Susanna Epp

- How Not To Be Wrong[6] by Jordan Ellenberg

- Introduction to Mathematical Thinking[7] by Keith Devlin

- How to Measure Anything[8] by Douglas Hubbard

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Speaks-Numbers-Reveals-Natur...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Math-Beauty-Physics-Astray/dp/15...

[3]: https://www.amazon.com/How-Mathematicians-Think-Contradictio...

[4]: https://www.amazon.com/How-Think-Like-Mathematician-Undergra...

[5]: https://www.amazon.com/Susanna-S-Epp-Mathematics-Application...

[6]: https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Be-Wrong-Mathematical/dp/0143...

[7]: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mathematical-Thinking-Ke...

[8]: https://www.amazon.com/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-Busi...

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bbstatsDec 2022

How Not To Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenburg

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jtlienwisNov 2022

"How not to be wrong" by Ellenberg. Use mathematical thinking to solve everyday problems.

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rg111May 2022

I was a Physics guy, a significant portion of my personality was centered around Physics.

When I started my Physics major, I had to complete two advanced Maths courses titled- Mathematical Methods I, II.

My love for Math took off from there. If you ask for books, then I would mention the MP book by Arfken, Weber, Harris. So minimal, yet straight to the point. Consistent and edifying.

I read a different Maths book in HS than what everyone else read. It was a local book, but very well written by prominent Mathematical intellectuals- the kind that write Math columns or act as mentors of syllabus advisory committee. This made a huge difference.

I liked Statistical Mechanics in college. I read Blundell and Blundell for it along with an unusual book as a reference- https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Physics-Thermodynamics-Statis... .

How Math explains the physical world so prominently blew my mind. I loved it.

I also watched Calculus video from MIT-OCW when in HS.

I switched to Deep Learning after college. How I could actually use Math to build something extremely practical made me love Math even more. This was the true turning point.

I now want to spend three years- part-time, studying higher math by myself. I think it is worth it, and I want to do original, basic research in the Deep Learning space.

While I keep my eye out for resources, I follow these lists-

* https://www.susanrigetti.com/math

* https://marksaroufim.medium.com/technical-books-i-%EF%B8%8F-...

I can recommend this book for you to read right now-

1. The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Mathematics from Zero Infinity by Steven Strogatz. A truly remarkable book.

2. How Not to Be Wrong: The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life by Jordan Ellenberg.

YouTube videos from 3blue1brown and Numberphile also increased my love for Maths.

Edit: I read some chapters from Alex Bello's Alex's Adventures in The Numberland. It was fantastic. I can recommend it.

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amw-zeroOct 2020

I don't understand - how is this a loss for CS? You used algorithm analysis to identify an inefficiency an improved that inefficiency. That is what Computer Science is. CS is not its notation - it is the act of doing what you just described. The notation is just supposed to help.

I don't understand the reduction of all of math and CS to complaining about people who overindulge their notations. I've been reading this recently, and it just affirms how important and ubiquitous mathematical thinking is everywhere in life: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/How-Not-to-be-Wrong.

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