It's a golden age for popular math books and as new books are published, we'll list the ones written by Five Books interviewees and frequently recommended authors, here. Please email us (editor@fivebooks.com) with any books that should appear on this list.
The Math of Life and Death
by Kit Yates
The Math of Life and Death, by Kit Yates, a senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath, is an excellent popular math book, demonstrating the many times math plays a critical role in our daily lives—often without us even knowing it.
Kit Yates chose the Best Math Books of 2019 for us. Is math really a matter of life or death? He spoke to us about his book in a Q&A below:
The Art of Statistics: Learning from Data
by David Spiegelhalter
Statistics can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they have all the guise of a hard objective fact. They can often clinch an argument by providing evidence to substantiate a claim. And yet, we are all too aware of how they can be weaponised in order to manipulate people. And, more benignly, they can just be incredibly confusing. With all this in mind, developing our statistical literacy seems more urgent than ever.
Step forward, The Art of Statistics: Learning from Data by world-renowned statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter — Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge since October 2007. In this new work aimed at the general reader, he aims to teach you the essential principles of how to gain knowledge from data. Preferring concrete real-life examples to dense mathematical formulae, Spiegelhalter introduces the key skills of data analysis, including how to spot questionable methodologies, in an accessible and enjoyable way.
David Spiegelhalter spoke to Five Books about the best books on statistics and risk.
Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus
by Steven Strogatz
"I yield freely to the sacred frenzy"—Johannes Kepler, 1619. Infinite Powers: the Story of Calculus is a popular math book, written for a general audience. In it, mathematician Steven Strogatz not only takes us through the history of calculus, from Archimedes to the present day—pointing out its extraordinary contribution to modern life along the way—but also conveys some of the excitement of doing math.
