The Math of Life and Death

By: Kit Yates

Narrated by: Kit Yates

Brilliant and entertaining mathematician Kit Yates illuminates seven mathematical concepts that shape our daily lives.

From birthdays to birth rates to how we perceive the passing of time, mathematical patterns shape our lives. But for those of us who left math behind in high school, the numbers and figures we encounter as we go about our days can leave us scratching our heads, feeling as if we're fumbling through a mathematical minefield. In this eye-opening and “welcome addition to the math-for-people-who-hate-math” (Kirkus Reviews) genre, Kit Yates illuminates hidden principles that can help us understand and navigate the chaotic and often opaque surfaces of our world.

In The Math of Life and Death, Yates takes us on a “dizzying, dazzling” (Nature) tour of everyday situations and grand-scale applications of mathematical concepts, including exponential growth and decay, optimization, statistics and probability, and number systems. Along the way he reveals the mathematical undersides of controversies over DNA testing, Ponzi schemes, viral marketing, and historical events such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Amanda Knox trial. Listeners will finish this book with an enlightened perspective on the news, the law, medicine, and history and will be better equipped to make personal decisions and solve problems with math in mind, whether it’s choosing the shortest checkout line at the grocery store or halting the spread of a deadly disease.

©2020 Kit Yates (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

A must read!

Easily accessible book describing entertaining real world examples of how math has been used to save and destroy lives. A powerful tool to improve your ability to understand the world.

Really is the mouth of life and death

This book is titled the mouth of life and death and it really is. Some of the parts are slow but for the most part it’s fascinating so stick with it.

A good book if you are into statistics and math(s)

I am clearly not the target audience for this book because, while there are no formulas to navigate, there is still a lot of discussions of algorithms, statistics, etc. which I confess bores me to tears.

Having said that,there is some stuff in this book that even I found interesting, like how math and statistics are misused in courtrooms and an interesting discussion of vaccinations and anti-vaxers [It would be nice of this was required reading for anti-vaxers, but having experience with them, I don’t believe facts or mathematical data will change their opinion.]

Stats graduate student very impressed

This is a great overview of basic probability and statistics with intriguing real life stories.

Well done!

Extremely interesting. Some I do you’ll know, some you’ll know without even realizing it, and some will be fascinating new stuff. Well worth the listen. Yes, there are some anti-conservative hints in the book and one place where he does completely stumble (dependent variables and death rates in some demographic groups— leaves out/ minimizes the part about those getting shot by or encountering the police generally are not randomly roaming the street…) but aside from these few areas, we thought the east of the book very entertaining.

Interesting read, but light on explanations

Delivery is entertaining, and the stories interesting, but the focus often seems skewed more towards storytelling than explaining. I would have liked more detail on the formulas and algorithms. The book is targeted towards laypeople, not post-graduate computer science majors, which is more than fine. I understand that this isn't a textbook (I'm sure I'd have fallen asleep throughout if it was), and that the very mention of equations scares of some (especially in an Audiobook), but in about half the examples, I wanted more. The author struck the right balance about half of the time, I just wish it was the same throughout. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed it and learned some new things while being entertained, so no regrets.

A critically important subject made comprehensible

This book is so important and so timely, especially the final chapter on epidemiology. It should be read by everyone! With all the real and pretend math being shouted at us by social and mainstream media, it is truly a life and death necessity to understand how to tell the difference. The logical and relatable prose with which the ideas and stories are developed means even the most math-challenged can become better educated in these crucial subjects. And to think that, when I first bought it, I thought it would be good bedtime reading! Far from it! It is intellectually and emotionally stimulating. The author’s authentic narration adds to the Audible version’s comprehensibility. I did also purchase the hardback book so I can more easily refer to relevant content. Thank you to the author!

Decent but not Great

While this book was a bit dry and simplistic at times, it was worth listening to. Looking back, it was not obvious what the seven principles were as this wasn't obvious in the audio version.

Why does he do an accent?

For whatever reason, the author performing the book elected to do accents for the personalities in the anecdotes that are strange, jarring, and borderline xenophobic caricatures. For example, he does a French accent to read quotes from Alphonse Bertillon and an odd, Texas-esque accent for an airport employee at the Newark airport, which didn’t make any sense. Otherwise the book was moderately interesting and pretty well-written but the accents were really strange and ill-advised.

Interesting Annoying Accents

Interesting - the stupid accents used by the author are cringeworthy and distracting. Otherwise pretty good.