Using the popular CBS prime-time TV crime series Numb3rs as a springboard, Keith Devlin (known to millions of NPR listeners as the Math Guy on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon) and Gary Lorden (the principal math advisor to Numb3rs) explain real-life mathematical techniques used by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to catch and convict criminals. From forensics to counterterrorism, the Riemann hypothesis to image enhancement, solving murders to beating casinos, Devlin and Lorden present compelling cases that illustrate how advanced mathematics can be used in state-of-the-art criminal investigations.
My Rating: 4 stars.
Content Warnings: PG. Talk of crimes of various kinds.
Content Warnings: PG. Talk of crimes of various kinds.
Thoughts: Numb3rs is one of my favorite shows, and I think it does a lot of things right as far as the writing goes. So I was curious how the math lined up, and this book was available.
When I picked it up from the library, I was surprised how thin it actually was. But that made it even more approachable, and I read it in less than a week, which I was not expecting. The book doesn't try to completely teach the math used in the show. It only gives a brief, easy to understand overview of what actually does work and why. I did appreciate that. I'm not a math person by any means, and anything too much more technical might have gone over my head, even though I would have tried to understand.
My favorite part was definitely the appendix in the end, giving a short summary of the maths used in each episode of the first three seasons of the show. And I appreciate how the writers weren't afraid to call B.S. on a couple episodes, or point out when Charlie's math did basically nothing and the cases were solved with normal investigation techniques.
If nothing else the show and the book both helped give me a little more appreciation for math, even if I still don't completely "get" it. The book is heavily dependent on watching the show though, so it's a good idea to read it after watching the first three seasons. But hey, it's entertainment with the excuse of education. :P
No comments:
Post a Comment