Book Review: How Not to Be Wrong

Almost everything that we do these days has some sort of mathematical element to it, from analysis by companies that are looking for patterns, voting and ways of winning the lottery.

Ellenberg does make some reasonable arguments; I particularly liked the explanations on the three-way voting where the favored guy can end up being eliminated purely because of the first past the post method, and the way that groups were able to exploit a badly designed lottery.

And most of the time he does a reasonable job of getting his points across using mathematical explanations and details revealing the hidden maths of everyday life. But the book suffers from a lack of direction at times it and it regularly jumps into very complex explanations, which some will find difficult. There are few gems inside the book which are very interesting to read, but so are a few dull moments. Its a good one time read, which will help you see the world from a different perspective.