AFTERMATH

Dintersmith presents a broad survey of the math that underpins and powers modern life but isn’t taught in school.

“America’s data-driven education system has it all wrong, adhering to a[n] 1893 model that expressly rewards rote skills of diminishing value—memorize content, replicate low-level procedures, follow instructions,” writes the author, a venture capitalist and engineer focused on education and technological innovation. New technologies, a changing job force, and the rise of artificial intelligence, he argues, have rendered traditional math curricula (which many students view “with fear, angst, and trauma”) not only anachronistic, but ineffective in setting students up for real-life success. What should be taught instead, he says, are eight branches of “modern-era math that empowers, defines, manipulates, and punishes us”—including statistics, probability, and game theory. Each chapter in this wide-ranging primer provides a plain-language overview of the math in question, using familiar historical scenarios. In snapshots, rather than deep dives, Dintersmith enthusiastically explores examples both famous and mundane, including the statistics behind modern baseball (as discussed in Michael Lewis’ 2003 bestseller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game), the estimation and sampling involved in political polls, and the algorithms powering digital encryption. The sheer volume and breadth of these examples and case studies can, at times, result in a lack of narrative flow. Along the way, though, the author introduces memorable maxims for navigating the perils and pitfalls of modern math, such as “Anecdote Anxiety,” which refers to how people “tend to overweight recent, sensational events,” and the familiar “Causation Caution”:“Just because two variables are correlated doesn’t mean one causes the other. Data sets might be correlated for three reasons: coincidence, causality, and shared underlying drivers.” In energetic, no-frills prose, he brings to life the “revealing math that profoundly affects you, your loved ones, and your fellow citizens,” demonstrating its power and utility in understanding the world in which we live.

An illuminating book that makes complex math concepts approachable.