Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense by Edward MacNeal

Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense



Download Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense




Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense Edward MacNeal
Language: English
Page: 319
Format: djvu
ISBN: 0140234861, 9780140234862
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

From Publishers Weekly

What is the sum of two apples and three oranges? (Answer: five fruit). Round off .098 to the nearest whole number. (Answer: zero). These math problems, and the inability of many people to solve them, reflect semantic presumptions embedded in our language, according to MacNeal, a business consultant to the airline industry. In this anecdotal, sporadically illuminating book, he deflates dubious statistics, exposes pitfalls in surveys, punches holes in accountants' reports and offers advice to math teachers. MacNeal pinpoints mathematical or logical errors commonly made by travelers, market analysts, students and others--errors that he believes may be due to the adult's retention of the child's tendency to confuse words with the things that words represent. Appendices include problems as well as recruitment quizzes for secretaries, clerical workers and lawyers. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Books like John Paulos's Innumeracy ( LJ 5/1/89) have demonstrated that many people don't understand numbers. MacNeal asks "why not?" and comes up with fascinating and helpful insights. He believes the problem is not so much an inability to do calculations as a semantic problem of naming the things you count. Thus, adding two apples and five oranges you get seven pieces of fruit, refuting the claim that "you can't add apples and oranges." Evidence from Jean Piaget's studies of children's language and from a math quiz that was given to job applicants at MacNeal's consulting business show how semantic mistakes lead to numerical errors (and also why people have so much difficulty solving story problems). This sounds very academic, but it's written in a friendly, personal style and offers eye-opening, practical advice on how to communicate numerically. A good antidote to innumeracy.- Amy Brunvand, Fort Lewis Coll. Lib., Durango, Col.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

MORE EBOOKS:
Histoire de la banqueroute et faillite contemporaine (Collection Logiques juridiques) e book free download







Tags: Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense ebook pdf epub djvu mobi rar
Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense pdf epub djvu free download
Download Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense free ebook pdf epub
Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense read online free book
Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense cheap ebook for kindle and nook
Edward MacNeal ebooks and audio books
Mathsemantics: Making Numbers Talk Sense download pdf epub rar rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent depositfiles scribd