About the Book
This collection of engaging articles from The New York Times explores a wide range of quantitative topics appearing in recent news items and stories. Articles are correlated to chapters in Using and Understanding Mathematics: A Quantitative Reasoning Approach, and chapter-specific references make it easy for you to relate each article to the textbook. A series of follow-up questions are also included for homework or class discussion.
Table of Contents:
Prologue: Literacy and Problem Solving
Between Series, an Actress Became a Superstar (in Math);
July 19, 2005
By Kenneth Chang. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 Thinking Critically
Enlisting Science’s Lessons to Entice More Shoppers to Spend More; September 19, 2006
By Kenneth Chang. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Harvard Ends Early Admission; September 12, 2006
By Alan Finder and Karen W. Arenson . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter 2 Approaches to Problem Solving
As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics; November 14, 2006
By Tamar Lewin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Fearing Future, China Starts to Give Girls Their Due; January 31, 2005
By Jim Yardley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Big-Time College Sports May Be Due for an Audit; October 29, 2006
By Selena Roberts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 3 Numbers in the Real World
What Happens If Inflation Is Overstated?; June 9, 2006
By Floyd Norris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Consumer: Are Mammograms Right for Everyone? November 1, 2005
By Deborah Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Lie-Detector Tests Found Too Flawed to Discover Spies; October 9, 2002
By William J. Broad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 4 Managing Your Money
Fortune’s Fools: Why the Rich Go Broke; September 17, 2006
By Timothy L. O’Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
New York, Los Angeles, Olathe? Rent’s Bite Is Big in Kansas, Too; October 23, 2006
By Susan Saulny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
It Seemed Like a Good Bet at the Time . . .; September 24, 2006
By Bob Tedeschi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Mortgage Suit Says `Trust Us’ Led to Fraud; September 28, 2006
By John Leland and Tom Zeller Jr. . . . . . . . . . . 32
Economic View: Even If Rates Don’t Move, the Interest Bill Will Rise; October 1, 2006
By Daniel Gross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
80% of Budget Effectively Off Limits to Cuts; April 6, 2006
By Edmund L. Andrews (NYT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 5 Statistical Reasoning
Networks in Uproar on Ratings; November 4, 2006
By Louise Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Married and Single Parents Spending More Time With Children, Study Finds; October 17, 2006
By Robert Pear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Treatment: Remedy Is Fake but Relief Is Real; May 17, 2005
By Nicholas Bakalar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Study Critical of Echinacea Fails to Faze Some Users; July 30, 2005
By Anthony Ramirez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Fly Me to the Moon, and Let Me Profit on My Stocks; November 19, 2006
By Mark Hulbert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The Energy Challenge: Budgets Falling in Race to Fight Gobal Warming; October 30, 2006
By Andrew C. Revkin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Chapter 6 Putting Statistics to Work
Lessons: Statistics, a Tool for Life, Is Getting Short Shrift; November 28, 2001
By Richard Rothstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Scores on Reading and Math Portions of the SAT Show a Significant Decline; August 30, 2006
By Karen W. Arenson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Economix: Philanthropy From the Heart of America; October 11, 2006
By David Leonhardt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
To Be Married Means to Be Outnumbered; October 15, 2006
By Sam Roberts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 7 Probability: Living with the Odds
Waiting for Riches: Living on the Daily Dream of Winning a Lottery Prize; May 22, 1999
By Brett Pulley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
In Science-Based Medicine, Where Does Luck Fit In? September 19, 2006
By Barron H. Lerner M.D.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
To Lower Costs, Hospitals Try Donating Care to Uninsured; October 25, 2006
By Erik Eckholm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Hope, at $4,200 a Dose; October 1, 2006
By Alex Berenson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
A New Strategy to Discourage Driving Drunk; November 20, 2006
By Matthew L. Wald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter 8 Exponential Astonishment
Come October, Baby Will Make 300 Million or So; January 13, 2006
By Sam Roberts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Report Tallies Hidden Costs of Human Assault on Nature; April 5, 2005
By Andrew C. Revkin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
The World: Russians, Busy Making Shrouds, Are Asked to Make Babies; May 14, 2006
By C. J. Chivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears; June 12, 2006
By Paul Vitello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 9 Modeling Our World
Ideas & Trends: The Last Time You Used Algebra Was . . . December 12, 2004
By Donald G. McNeil Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
China to Pass U.S. in 2009 in Emissions; November 7, 2006
By Keith Bradsher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Keeping Score: Is Team Really as Good as Record? Do the Math; July 4, 2004
By Alan Schwarz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Chapter 10 Modeling with Geometry
Mastering the Geometry of the Jungle (or Doin’ What Comes Naturally); January 24, 2006
By Nicholas Bakalar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Cones, Curves, Shells, Towers: He Made Paper Jump to Life; June 22, 2004
By Margaret Wertheim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chapter 11 Mathematics and the Arts
Subtle Math Turns Songs of Whales Into Kaleidoscopic Images; August 1, 2006
By Gretchen Cuda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
String Theory: Acousticians Who Break the Rules of Instrument Design; November 28, 2006
By Andrew C. Revkin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Computer Analysis Suggests Paintings Are Not Pollocks; February 9, 2006
By Randy Kennedy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Economix: The Art of Pricing Great Art November 15, 2006
By David Leonhardt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Chapter 12 Mathematics and Politics
Innovator Devises End Run Around Electoral College; September 22, 2006
By Rick Lyman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
In Florida, Echoes of 2000 as Vote Questions Emerge; November 10, 2006
By Abby Goodnough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Digital Domain: The Big Gamble on Electronic Voting; September 24, 2006
By Randall Stross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Justices Uphold Most Remapping in Texas by G.O.P.; June 29, 2006
By Linda Greenhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Chapter 13 Mathematics and Business
Loading an Airliner Is Rocket Science; November 14, 2006
By Paul Burnham Finney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
