A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper

Instructor: John Allen Paulos

January 28, 29 | 1–3 p.m.

John Allen Paulos is the rare mathematician who can make mathematics come alive for everyone. He wrote the New York Times bestseller Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences and many other works. He is known for bringing humor to subject matter that is often presented without it. For the Lifelong Learning Program, Dr. Paulos will present two sessions drawing on two of his best-known books.

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A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper (and Its Descendants). In session one, he will apply mathematical thinking, logic, and numeracy to everyday journalism. Even if you hated math in school, you'll love the numerical vignettes in this presentation. From the Senate, the SATs, and sex to crime, celebrities, and cults, Dr. Paulos takes stories that may not seem to involve mathematics at all and demonstrates how mathematical naïveté puts readers at a distinct disadvantage.

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A Numerate Life: A Mathematician Explores the Vagaries of Life, His Own and Probably Yours. In session two, vignettes serve as springboards to many telling perspectives: Simple arithmetic puts lifelong habits in a dubious new light; higher-dimensional geometry helps us see that we're all rather peculiar; nonlinear dynamics explains the narcissism of small differences cascading into very different siblings; logarithms and exponentials yield insight into why we tend to become bored and jaded as we age; and there are tricks and jokes, probability and coincidences, and much more.

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John Allen Paulos is a professor, bestselling author, mathematician, public speaker, and longtime columnist for ABCNews.com. He grew up in Chicago and Milwaukee and received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, where he later delivered a commencement address. He has received awards for promoting public understanding and communication of mathematics and science. Now an emeritus professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia, he and his wife, Sheila, spend winters in San Miguel de Allende. His website is johnallenpaulos.com.