Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #467484 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .56" h x 6.14" w x 9.04" l, .77 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 228 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312156275
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

From Library Journal
Savant, the Parade magazine columnist known for having the highest recorded I.Q., has written an interesting analysis of the use and misuse of statistics. Using the style of earlier books such as I've Forgotten Everything I Learned in School (LJ 1/94), she covers mathematical reasoning that seems illogical at first glance but can be explained rationally. She also presents at length (covered further in a long appendix) the controversy that has become known as the "Monty Hall dilemma" and discusses financial twists on logic and misused statistics to convey information or benefit a political candidate. (President Clinton takes the brunt of criticism in this section.) Recommended for libraries where Savant's earlier writings have been popular.?Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L., Towson, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Fellow English majors, arise! This book is for those of us whose brains stalled when faced with the threat of "word problems" in math class. Vos Savant shows us how even the most well educated can be semiliterate in the arts of reasoning and problem solving. She illustrates how easily we are duped by "counter-intuitive" problems whose solutions run against the grain of instinct. In part 1, vos Savant analyzes examples of these problems, including the famous "Monty Hall Dilemma" that initiated a deluge of mail from irate mathematicians after she posed it in her Sunday column. Part 2 unveils how easy it is to misunderstand mean-spirited statistics. This section also contains fascinatingly thorough descriptions of every conceivable verbal fallacy--a tour de force to delight the number-impaired. Part 3 is an eye-opening analysis of the ways politicians use statistics, "selective logic," and faulty reasoning to sway our votes. Vos Savant's clear, logical approach to convoluted problems is a tonic for anyone who feels queasy around economics, statistics, word problems, or politicians. Patricia Hassler

Review
America has become a society devoid of any clear understanding of the power of logic and numbers. All too often we rely on our intuition or on statistics thrown at us in newspapers. As a result of inadequate schools and handy calculators and computers, Americans have become a people frightened by numbers and unable to make logical decisions that can and do affect their lives.
In The Power Of Logical Thinking, Marilyn vos Savant (the popular Parade columnist) has written a classic and enduring work that will help restore our ability to reason, to use logic in everyday life, and to interpret what the numbers really mean.
Vos Savant examines puzzles and paradoxes that confront us daily, and demonstrates how statistics are often used against us by government officials, political partisans, cultural demonizers, and religious demagogues. And, in the final and most controversial section of this groundbreaking volume, vos Savant analyzes the use of misleading statistics in the 1992 presidential race, so we can be on the lookout during future elections.
The most provocative book about numbers in recent memory, The Power Of Logical Thinking shows us how we can take control of our own numerical destiny in the years to come -- and I don't mean numerology! The Power Of Logical Thinking is highly rewarding reading for freethinkers of all political shades as it shares the hard facts about what havoc the absence of logical thought can wreck in our lives and the well-being of our communities. -- Midwest Book Review