Negative reviews generally don't get published (I am told) and maybe
that's why this one did not make the cut. Or -- maybe my conclusions
are all wrong! Anyway, having been greatly impressed by
the Tufte & Paulos' books on somewhat the same subject, I was disappointed in
this one.
Opinions to the contrary welcomed.
Burgy
200% OF NOTHING by A. K. Dewdney. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1993.
182 pages. Bibliography; no index. $19.95.
Can a book on the "innumeracy" of the typical American, written by
a respected essayist for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, endorsed by such
luminaries as Arthur C. Clarke and Martin Gardner, possibly be a "dud?"
In a word, "yes." Dewdney has written an adequate book, but it is
is obscured by inadequate editing, typos and grammatical errors. Fractured
syntax abounds throughout, along with references to
figures apparently lost in the editing process, and numeric examples
which change without reason within the space of a page or two.
The subject, mathematical illiteracy, is of high importance;
particularly to those interested in how science and Christianity
interface! In my library, it is addressed with brilliance by Tufte's
THE VISUAL DISPLAY OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION, 1983, and
John Paulos' INNUMERACY: MATHEMATICAL ILLITERACY AND ITS
CONSEQUENCES, 1990. Those two I highly recommend to my
ASA colleagues; Dewdney's book adds little or nothing to them;
I shall not keep a copy.
John W. Burgeson
Compuserve 73531,1506