The Mathematics of Love

By: Hannah Fry

Narrated by: Hannah Fry

In this must-have for anyone who wants to better understand their love life, a mathematician pulls back the curtain and reveals the hidden patterns—from dating sites to divorce, sex to marriage—behind the rituals of love.

The roller coaster of romance is hard to quantify; defining how lovers might feel from a set of simple equations is impossible. But that doesn’t mean that mathematics isn’t a crucial tool for understanding love.

Love, like most things in life, is full of patterns. And mathematics is ultimately the study of patterns—from predicting the weather to the fluctuations of the stock market, the movement of planets or the growth of cities. These patterns twist and turn and warp and evolve just as the rituals of love do.

In The Mathematics of Love, Dr. Hannah Fry takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the patterns that define our love lives, applying mathematical formulas to the most common yet complex questions pertaining to love: What’s the chance of finding love? What’s the probability that it will last? How do online dating algorithms work, exactly? Can game theory help us decide who to approach in a bar? At what point in your dating life should you settle down?

From evaluating the best strategies for online dating to defining the nebulous concept of beauty, Dr. Fry proves—with great insight, wit, and fun—that math is a surprisingly useful tool to negotiate the complicated, often baffling, sometimes infuriating, always interesting, mysteries of love.

Better in audio format

I had bought this book some time ago but couldn't get to the end: I expected more complexity and mathematical rigor than the book could provide. However, the audiobook is quite a different story: the narration does a good job in keeping the tone light and the book entertaining. All things considered, I would recommend the audiobook to a friend.

Excellent

Nice, easy to listen, and surprisingly humorous for something that involves a bit of maths.

Great intro of the power of math in social subjects

Hannah Fry explains in understandable way (with a bit extra info when required for the more geeky audience like me ) how love patterns and well known social behaviors can me explained with maths.

It will probably not change your love behavior and tactics, but it will definitely see how maths can explain it and most of all, you gonna start loving maths a bit more on the way :)

Good book to get included in audible free trial.

Although interesting, some equations and diagrams are hard to understand without viewing the included PDF. Also, there is a lot of psychology in this book and I, personally, expected a bit more math... but that might just be me.

Very enjoyable

Hannah does a good job narrating her book, which showcases mathematical models that are derived from and/or applied to human interaction.
A basic understanding of math is prerequisite in my opinion, but I guess anyone finding the title "Mathematics of Love" intriguing already have that sorted out.
It was nice and encouraging, sometimes even fun, and I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoy a good TED talk.