John Allen Paulos
| John Allen Paulos | |
|---|---|
 John Allen Paulos |
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| Born | July 4, 1945 |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Temple University |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Known for | Author of books and articles on a variety of topics, especially the combating of innumeracy |
| Notable awards | 2003 AAAS Award |
John Allen Paulos (born July 4, 1945) is a professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia who has gained fame as a writer and speaker on mathematics and the importance of mathematical literacy. His book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences (1988) was an influential bestseller and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper (1995) extended the critique.
He has also written on other subjects, such as the mathematical and philosophical basis of humor in Mathematics and Humor and I Think, Therefore I Laugh, the vagaries of the stock market in A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market, quantitative aspects of narrative in Once Upon a Number, and the emptiness of the arguments for God in Irreligion.
Paulos wrote a mathematics-tinged column for the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom, and "Who's Counting" [1] — his long-running monthly column on ABCNews.com — deals with mathematical aspects of stories in the news as well.
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[edit] Biography
Paulos grew up in Chicago and Milwaukee and received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His academic work is mainly in mathematical logic and probability theory.
[edit] Awards
Paulos received the 2003 AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Award for Promoting the Public Understanding of Science and Technology.[2]
[edit] Bibliography
- Mathematics & Humor: A Study of the Logic of Humor. University Of Chicago. 1980. ISBN 978-0226650241.
- I Think Therefore I Laugh: The Flip Side of Philosophy. Columbia University Press. 1985. ISBN 978-0231060318.
- Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences. Hill and Wang. 1988. ISBN 978-0670830084.
- Beyond Numeracy: Ruminations of a Numbers Man. Knopf. 1991. ISBN 978-0394586403.
- A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper. Basic Books. 1995. ISBN 978-0465043620.
- Once Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories. Basic Books. 1998. ISBN 978-0465051588.
- A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market. Basic Books. 2003. ISBN 978-0465054800.
- Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. Hill and Wang. 2007. ISBN 978-0809059195.
[edit] References
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/ Who's Counting
- ^ AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science & Technology, AAAS 2003 Award Recipients.
[edit] External links
- John Allen Paulos's home page
- Who's Counting columns at ABC News
- Paulos speaking at Beyond Belief conference
- All Hail Numeracy
- He Conquered the Conjecture essay by Paulos on Grigory Perelman from The New York Review of Books
- Metric Mania
- Measuring Bacteria With a Yardstick
- Paulos on David Letterman
- Review excerpts of Paulos' books
- Paulos' columns in the Guardian
