Author Talk: Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World

Presented on: Tuesday, December 14th at 1:30 PM EST




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Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World is a #1 international bestseller that provides an answer to anyone who ever put their hand up in math class and asked, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?” Our whole world is built on math, from the code running a website to the equations enabling the design of skyscrapers and bridges. Most of the time this math works quietly behind the scenes . . . until it doesn’t. All sorts of seemingly innocuous mathematical mistakes can have significant consequences. Math is easy to ignore until a misplaced decimal point upends the stock market, a unit conversion error causes a plane to crash, or someone divides by zero and stalls a battleship in the middle of the ocean. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near misses, and mathematical mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman Empire, and an Olympic team, Matt Parker uncovers the bizarre ways math trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.

 

Matt Parker, known as the Stand-up Mathematician, is an award winning YouTuber, public speaker and author. His book Humble Pi was a #1 international best-seller. Matt is a host on the Science Channel series Outrageous Acts of Science and his YouTube videos on the Stand-up Maths and Numberphile channels have amassed over 100 million views. In 2018 Matt calculated the number pi live on-stage in front of a sold-out Royal Albert Hall using a real pie. He is also the first person to use an overhead projector at the Hammersmith Apollo since Pink Floyd.

 

Your PBC Guru Moderator:

Megan Behm is a Book Club Operations Manager at PBC Guru, a book club management company that believes in the power of lifelong learning communities centered around reading and thoughtful discussion.  PBC Guru partners with more than 250 higher education alumni associations and private high schools, businesses, library systems, and professional societies worldwide to create meaningful and vibrant online book clubs. PBC Guru's virtual book clubs allow over 130,000 members to connect from anywhere they are, at whatever time is convenient.  With PBC Guru, Megan develops the content for and moderates the discussions for over 50 book clubs, reading titles from all genres. Before joining PBC Guru, Megan spent ten years working in the performing arts and literary industries in Washington, D.C., and New York City. She is a life-long bookworm and a proud graduate of the College of William & Mary.