Unequal: The Maths of When Things Do and Don’t Add Up
This book falls into the vein of 25 Rocks which I read earlier this year. If i was being completely honest with myself, i’ll put this in the “didn’t finish” category because even after I finish the book, I cannot tell you the main thesis of the book other than what you can see on the front or back cover of the book.
The chapters in this book always begin with a math equation of some sort, and the grand thesis is really that not everything about math has to be about equality which we kind of implicitly assume when we see x + y = z. The book then takes the math equation or concept and then starts broaching real life topics with it, like equality doesn’t have to be equal, such as when in a couple, one person prefers to cook and another prefers to clean, it doesn’t make sense to force each person to equally clean and cook the same amounts. We deem it equal that they can share chores in a way that’s beneficial to all and wave away the inequality that one thing or another takes up more effort.
This is fine for relatively simple concepts, but when she starts talking about harder concepts, it just loses me completely. this was not for a lack of concentration on my part, the authoress, who is also the narrator, acknowledges in parts of the audio book that listeners might just have to live with the fact that they cannot see equations and to check the enclosed pdf if they want to follow along.
I might end up checking out the dead tree version of this book at some point, but simply put, I think this is kind of the “math’s version of philosophy”, using math concepts to express the authoresses’ philosophy. As these books goes, how well you react to it will depend on how your worldview lines up with the authoress. Mine lines up well so I think i put up till the end of the book with it because what she does say about equality in plain english is worth listening to. its maybe a stretch as to how you can use math equations or concepts to justify it, but hey, it takes all sorts.
Worth it if you’re into math and want to see how stretchy it really is when it comes to asserting world views. =)
not recommended unless you are really into math.