Picture 1 of 1

Stock photo

Living by Numbers : In Defence of Quantity, Paperback by Connor, Steven, Bran... - Picture 1 of 1

Living by Numbers : In Defence of Quantity by Steven Connor (2017, Trade Paperback)

Great Book Prices Store (341772)

96.8% positive feedback

Price:

$17.65

Free shipping

Estimated delivery Sat, Sep 13 - Mon, Sep 22

Returns:

14 days returns. Buyer pays for return shipping. If you use an eBay shipping label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.

Condition:

Brand New

He looks at the unexpected oddities that shape the loneliest number'the number one. He demonstrates the work of calculation as it lies at the heart of poetry, jokes, painting, and music. He shows how we use numbers to adjust to uncertainty and chance and how they help us visualize the world in diagrammatic ways, and he unveils how numbers even help us think about death.

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherReaktion Books, The Limited

ISBN-101780238258

ISBN-139781780238258

eBay Product ID (ePID)235668505

Product Key Features

Number of Pages296 Pages

Publication NameLiving by Numbers : in Defence of Quantity

LanguageEnglish

SubjectCounting & Numeration, General, Essays

Publication Year2017

TypeTextbook

AuthorSteven Connor

Subject AreaMathematics, Science

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight10.1 Oz

Item Length7.7 in

Item Width5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

ReviewsNumber is one of the fundamental dimensions of reality; to ignore it is to be color-blind, monolingual, housebound, blinkered. In this lively, good-humored, and erudite book, Steven Connor shows how an allergy to quantitative thinking has not served the humanities well, and that welcoming it in can only deepen our appreciation of art and literature., Full of delights and insights for mathematicians and nonmathematicians alike. . . . Living by Numbers turns the question of whether a problem might best be approached qualitatively or quantitatively on its head, suggesting that it misses the point. Instead of asking how the humanities and arts might respond to the expansion of statistics and data sciences, Connor asserts that the important questions about life--and the historical, philosophical, and artistic ways of addressing them--have always also been about numbers., My favorite polymath now deconstructs anti-numerical animus within the humanities and the number magic of the statistical ideologues. Conner finds number everywhere: meter, rhythm, cycle, pattern, repetition, street numbers, PIN numbers, grids, graphs, tipping points, multitudes and the masses. His criticisms of critique notwithstanding, no humanist has thought more deeply about number in everyday life since before the rationalization of knowledge., This is a book about our relationship with numbers rather than the numbers themselves, and the way they influence all spheres of human activity including art, music, poetry, and literature. . . . An interesting take., Full of delights and insights for mathematicians and nonmathematicians alike. . . . Living by Numbers turns the question of whether a problem might best be approached qualitatively or quantitatively on its head, suggesting that it misses the point. Instead of asking how the humanities and arts might respond to the expansion of statistics and data sciences, Connor asserts that the important questions about life--and the historical, philosophical, and artistic ways of addressing them--have always also been about numbers., This is a fascinating book. It is not an exploration of the study of mathematics, nor an explanation of mathematical principles, as it is a commentary upon life and the critical place of numeracy within it., Connor shows how number is essential to literary criticism, music, visual art and even to pleasure . . . It is an indication of the richness of Connor's content that frequently I wanted more . . . Readers of this book will be mentally engaged in a dialogue with the author throughout . . . Connor is always stimulating as well as witty.

Dewey Edition23

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal513.5

Table Of Content1 Vernacular Mathematics 2 Quantality 3 Horror of Number 4 Modern Measures 5 Lots 6 Hilarious Arithmetic 7 Playing the Numbers 8 Keeping the Beat 9 The Numerate Eye 10 Enough References Photo Acknowledgements Index

SynopsisHow do we really think about the world? We may use words to tell stories about it or draw pictures to represent it, but one thing we do far more than either of those is make calculations of the things that are in it--and to do that we use numbers. Numbers give shape and texture to almost everything we feel, say, dream, and do, a fact that Steven Connor explores in this qualitative assessment of the quantifiable. Looking at how numbers play a part in nearly every aspect of our lives, he offers a fascinating portrait of the world as a world of numbers. Connor explores a host of thought-provoking aspects of our numerical existence. He looks at the unexpected oddities that shape the loneliest number--the number one. He looks at counting as a human phenomenon and the ways we negotiate crowds, swarms, and multitudes. He demonstrates the work of calculation as it lies at the heart of poetry, jokes, painting, and music. He shows how we use numbers to adjust to uncertainty and chance and how they help us visualize the world in diagrammatic ways, and he unveils how numbers even help us think about death. Altogether, Connor brings into relief an aspect of our lives so ubiquitous that we often can't see it, unveiling a rich new way of thinking about our existence., Ideas about quantities, magnitudes and frequencies shape and give texture to almost everything we feel, say, dream and do. Living by Numbers: In Defence of Quantity explores the many ways in which we live in, and by, a world of numbers. Steven Connor discusses how numbers play a part in all aspects of life, from dealing with crowds to jokes, music, and painting. Ideas about quantities, magnitudes and frequencies shape and give texture to almost everything we feel, say, dream and do. In Living by Numbers , now available in paperback, Steven Connor explores the many ways in which we live in, and by, a world of numbers. The book opens up for the first time the richness, variety and subtlety of how we do things with numbers and, just as importantly, how they do things with us.

LC Classification NumberQA141