Problems in Probability

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The probability of two boys given at least one boy born in the summer is seven-fifteenths, which is close to a half. The more precise you are about the boy she does have, if they have two boys, at least one of whom is born on July 4th, then the probability is almost a half. It's hard without writing out the sample space, but it's so difficult of problems in many problems in probability. They're counter intuitive. That's one reason people have problems with probability. Their probabilistic vocabulary is limited to one in a million maybe or 50-50 or sure think. And on top of that, people don't think naturally in terms of

People have a complicated relationship to mathematics. We all use it in our everyday lives, from calculating a tip at a restaurant to estimating the probability of some future event. But many people find the subject intimidating, if not off-putting. John Allen Paulos has long been working to make mathematics more approachable and encourage people to become more numerate. We talk about how people think about math, what kinds of math they should know, and the role of stories and narrative to make math come alive.

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John Allen Paulos received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is currently a professor of mathematics at Temple University. He s a bestselling author, and frequent contributor to publications such as ABCNews.com, the Guardian, and Scientific American. Among his awards are the Science Communication award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Mathematics Communication Award from the Joint Policy Board of Mathematics. His new book is Who’s Counting? Uniting Numbers and Narratives with Stories from Pop Culture, Puzzles, Politics, and More.

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