HOW NOT TO BE WRONG The Power of Mathematical Thinking

Great storytelling and an appealing, perky performance by author-narrator Ellenberg make this an enormously engaging audio. Ellenberg’s diction is reasonably clear, and he reads quickly—like someone very confident about his thinking. His performance conveys the type of measured enthusiasm that invites listeners into his world and seduces them into looking at math in a way they never have before. With convincing clarity, he shows how math is just an abstract way to talk about common-sense relationships—relationships that we deal with every day but that can be more manageable when using the specialized language and processes that math provides. This production is remarkable for the compassionate way Ellenberg speaks to what we presume is a mathematically naïve audience. T.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2014]