Common Sense Mathematics: Second Edition

Common Sense Mathematics: Second Edition PDF

Author: Ethan D. Bolker

Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.

Published: 2021-01-21

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 147046134X

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Ten years from now, what do you want or expect your students to remember from your course? We realized that in ten years what matters will be how students approach a problem using the tools they carry with them—common sense and common knowledge—not the particular mathematics we chose for the curriculum. Using our text, students work regularly with real data in moderately complex everyday contexts, using mathematics as a tool and common sense as a guide. The focus is on problems suggested by the news of the day and topics that matter to students, like inflation, credit card debt, and loans. We use search engines, calculators, and spreadsheet programs as tools to reduce drudgery, explore patterns, and get information. Technology is an integral part of today's world—this text helps students use it thoughtfully and wisely. This second edition contains revised chapters and additional sections, updated examples and exercises, and complete rewrites of critical material based on feedback from students and teachers who have used this text. Our focus remains the same: to help students to think carefully—and critically—about numerical information in everyday contexts.

Mathematics & Common Sense

Mathematics & Common Sense PDF

Author: Philip J. Davis

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2006-11-30

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1439864322

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From the Preface: This book is addressed to all who are curious about the nature of mathematics and its role in society. It is neither a text book nor a specialists' book. It consists of a number of loosely linked essays that may be read independently and for which I have tried to provide a leitmotif by throwing light on the relationship between mathematics and common sense. In these essays I hope to foster a critical attitude towards both the existence of common sense in mathematics and the ambiguous role that it can play.

Solving the Frame Problem

Solving the Frame Problem PDF

Author: Murray Shanahan

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9780262193849

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In 1969, John McCarthy and Pat Hayes uncovered a problem that has haunted the field of artificial intelligence ever since--the frame problem. The problem arises when logic is used to describe the effects of actions and events. Put simply, it is the problem of representing what remains unchanged as a result of an action or event. Many researchers in artificial intelligence believe that its solution is vital to the realization of the field's goals. Solving the Frame Problem presents the various approaches to the frame problem that have been proposed over the years. The author presents the material chronologically--as an unfolding story rather than as a body of theory to be learned by rote. There are lessons to be learned even from the dead ends researchers have pursued, for they deepen our understanding of the issues surrounding the frame problem. In the book's concluding chapters, the author offers his own work on event calculus, which he claims comes very close to a complete solution to the frame problem. Artificial Intelligence series

Constitutional Calculus

Constitutional Calculus PDF

Author: Jeff Suzuki

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2015-03

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 142141595X

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How math trumps tradition in promoting justice, fairness, and a more stable democracy. How should we count the population of the United States? What would happen if we replaced the electoral college with a direct popular vote? What are the consequences of allowing unlimited partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts? Can six-person juries yield verdicts consistent with the needs of justice? Is it racist to stop and frisk minorities at a higher rate than non-minorities? These and other questions have long been the subject of legal and political debate and are routinely decided by lawyers, politicians, judges, and voters, mostly through an appeal to common sense and tradition. But mathematician Jeff Suzuki asserts that common sense is not so common, and traditions developed long ago in what was a mostly rural, mostly agricultural, mostly isolated nation of three million might not apply to a mostly urban, mostly industrial, mostly global nation of three hundred million. In Constitutional Calculus, Suzuki guides us through the U.S. Constitution and American history to show how mathematics reveals our flaws, finds the answers we need, and moves us closer to our ideals. From the first presidential veto to the debate over mandatory drug testing, the National Security Agency's surveillance program, and the fate of death row inmates, Suzuki draws us into real-world debates and then reveals how math offers a superior compass for decision-making. Relying on iconic cases, including the convictions of the Scottsboro boys, League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, and Floyd v. City of New York, Suzuki shows that more math can lead to better justice, greater fairness, and a more stable democracy. Whether you are fascinated by history, math, social justice, or government, your interest will be piqued and satisfied by the convincing case Suzuki makes.

Statistics with Common Sense

Statistics with Common Sense PDF

Author: David Kault

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2003-04-30

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0313052875

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Applying statistical results to real life situations can be difficult or futile if you can't be certain what the results actually mean. This reference guide provides readers with the frequently elusive link between statistical results and practical applications. Students will learn the basic concepts and principles of statistics and probability, without getting bogged down in complicated theories and abstractions. Many statistics texts rely too heavily on mathematical formulas. Kault restores the emphasis to understanding statistical results and using common sense in decision making. Everyday examples bring the concepts to life. In the entry on hypothesis testing, Kault examines how a statistical result incorrectly overruled the common sense of many doctors. A chapter on random variables shows the chance that students will carry cell phones, and a chapter on categorical measurements uses statistics to determine the efficiency of a new treatment for a serious disease. Each chapter ends with questions that will help students further understand important concepts. Useful on its own and perfect as a means of expanding classroom discussions, this book is ideal for high school students or anyone needing to review the basics of statistics.

Racial Inequality in Mathematics Education

Racial Inequality in Mathematics Education PDF

Author: Thierry Elin-Saintine

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

Published: 2021-08-26

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 180043992X

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This book focuses on the math identity construction of 11 Black students. High school students' perception of what/who is a math person constrained and limited their sense of belonging to the community of doers of mathematics. This study offers new insights into the racial opportunity-gap in mathematics education.

Reaching for the Moon

Reaching for the Moon PDF

Author: Katherine Johnson

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Published: 2020-05-05

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1534440844

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“This rich volume is a national treasure.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Captivating, informative, and inspiring…Easy to follow and hard to put down.” —School Library Journal (starred review) The inspiring autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11. As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for math. In school she quickly skipped ahead several grades and was soon studying complex equations with the support of a professor who saw great promise in her. But ability and opportunity did not always go hand in hand. As an African American and a girl growing up in an era of brutal racism and sexism, Katherine faced daily challenges. Still, she lived her life with her father’s words in mind: “You are no better than anyone else, and nobody else is better than you.” In the early 1950s, Katherine was thrilled to join the organization that would become NASA. She worked on many of NASA’s biggest projects including the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon. Katherine Johnson’s story was made famous in the bestselling book and Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. Now in Reaching for the Moon she tells her own story for the first time, in a lively autobiography that will inspire young readers everywhere.

Commonsense Architecture

Commonsense Architecture PDF

Author: John S. Taylor

Publisher: W. W. Norton

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9780393303308

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Examines the efficient use of building materials, the responsiveness of architecture to basic human needs, and the relationship between a building and its environment

Math for Smarty Pants

Math for Smarty Pants PDF

Author: Marilyn Burns

Publisher: Little Brown & Company

Published: 1982

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9780316117388

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Text, illustrations, and suggested activities offer a common-sense approach to mathematic fundamentals for those who are slightly terrified of numbers.