`Mathematicians aren’t people who find maths easy; they’re people who enjoy how hard it is.’
Humble Pi by Matt Parker is an excellent and funny book that revolves around the mathematical errors that have caused various mishaps and blunders. Parker takes us through how, from the Russian shooting contingent’s unfortunate calendar mix-up that caused them to miss the 1908 London Olympics to the amusing incident of Snap’s ‘The Power,’ leading to the evacuation of a thirty-nine-Storey South Korean shopping complex; from how Sesame Street got the moon wrong to the reason behind the missing first of the three Apollo missions, the use of neon tubes to generate random numbers, how a computer game made Gandhi the most aggressive world leader, and many more.
This is a brilliant and engaging read that will make you laugh and wonder at the power and pitfalls of mathematics. Also, sorry in advance if you hesitate to board an airplane anymore after reading this book.
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