Why Do Buses Come in Threes? The Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life - Softcover

Rob Eastaway; Jeremy Wyndham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471379077 ISBN 13: 9780471379072

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2000

Synopsis

""Deals in a very entertaining way with problems in normal life related to mathematics, luck, coincidence, gambling."" ? The Independent (London)

Why do your chances of winning the lottery increase if you buy your ticket on Friday? Why do traffic lights always seem to be red when you?re in a hurry? Is bad luck just chance, or can it be explained?

The intriguing answers to these and other questions about the curiosities of everyday life can be found in this delightfully irreverent and highly informative book. Why Do Buses Come in Threes? explains how math and the laws of probability are constantly at work in our lives, affecting everything we do, from getting a date to catching a bus to cooking dinner. With great humor and a genuine love for the subject, Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham present solutions to such conundrums as how fast one should run in the rain to stay dry and who was the greatest sportsman of all time.Discover the mathematical explanations for the strange coincidence of two.

Presidents dying on July 4, the uncanny ""accuracy"" of horoscopes, and other not-so-coincidental coincidences. Eastaway and Wyndham also reveal how television ratings work, which numbers are more likely to be big winners in the lottery, and why bad things, just like buses, always seem to happen in threes.

Whether you have a degree in astrophysics or haven?t touched a math problem since high school, this book sends you on a fascinating journey through the logic of life where Newton?s laws explain bar fights, exploding rabbit populations, and why showers always run either too hot or too cold. Why Do Buses Come in Threes? is a delightfully entertaining ride that reveals the relevance of math in absolutely everything we do.

About this title

Review

If you've ever bought a Lotto ticket and wondered about your bad luck afterward, you've had to deal with math. From timing to probability, it pervades our every waking moment, and even the most crippling math phobia can't make it go away. Writers Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham throw up their hands in defeat and give in to the amusing, interesting, and practical aspects of math in Why Do Buses Come in Threes? Taking their title from the oft-noticed phenomenon of clumping in mass transit, they explain in clear, commonsense language why this must be so. At the end of their description, you might be left with the uneasy sense that you just learned some math, and on quick review, you'll find that the authors have in fact snuck some in under your radar. In chapter after chapter, Eastaway and Wyndham successfully navigate statistics, codes, coincidences, and many other parts of our lives, peeling away the surface to show what's really going on to make things so weird and wonderful. Diagrams and drawings help to make their points even clearer, and there are almost never any scary formulas to frighten the timid. If you've been waiting your whole life to learn the "Ham Sandwich Theorem," or just want to put some old fears to rest, Why Do Buses Come in Threes? is the solution. --Rob Lightner

From the Inside Flap

Why Do Buses Come in Threes? Why is it better to buy a lottery ticket on a Friday? Is bad luck just chance, or can it be explained? Is it possible to win every time without cheating? And can math greatly increase your odds of getting a date and even falling in love? If you’ve had the sneaking suspicion ever since the third grade that math is conspiring against you—you’re right. Math and the laws of probability are constantly at work in our lives, affecting everything we do from getting a date to catching a bus. Why Do Buses Come in Threes? is a delightfully entertaining ride for anyone wanting to remind themselves—or discover for the first time—that math is relevant to almost everything we do. Buses that bunch, identical potato chips, and slicing a cake evenly for an odd number of guests all have their links to intriguing mathematical problems. With great humor and a genuine love for the subject, the authors present the solutions to such conundrums as how fast one should run in the rain to keep dry and who was the greatest sportsman statistically. Discover the mathematical explanations for the strange coincidence of two Presidents dying on July 4, the uncanny "accuracy" of horoscopes, the number of petals on a flower and seeds in an apple, and other not-so-coincidental coincidences. Eastaway and Wyndham also reveal how television ratings work, which numbers are more likely to be big winners in the lottery, and why bad things, just like buses, always seem to happen in threes. It’s a fascinating journey through the logic of life where Newton’s laws explain bar fights, exploding rabbit populations, and why showers always run either too hot or too cold. For the kids, the authors have devoted an entire chapter to tricks that entertain, teach, and baffle children with the magical properties of numbers. So climb aboard, take a ride, and discover the hidden mathematical code to some of life’s greatest (and most irritating) questions.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0471379077
• ISBN 13: 9780471379072
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 156