Proofiness

You, there! Have you ever seen a statistic used in the media? If so, then you have likely been the victim of proofiness. Proofiness is defined by mister Charles Seife as "the art of using bogus mathematical arguments to prove something that you know in your heart is true - even when it's not." Want to be free of this madness? Then I have just the thing for you! This book, Proofiness, is essentially a field guide to spotting said proofiness, and then to seeing through it.

The first two chapters are an introduction to the rest of the book, listing different types of proofiness and making silly words for them. If you'd like, you can see the silly words in my glossary. Chapters three through eight are then about examples of people using proofiness, mostly in the United States of America. Seife covers proofiness polls, elections, courts, and more.

Proofiness is a gripping book which will keep you interested through the whole ride. I mean, sometimes I chose to read this book instead of The Hike. That should tell you something about how compelling it is.

Seife is doing important work here, trying to help people make decisions which are not based on false numbers or bad arguments. He never gets very technical, and keeps it simple enough that anyone at all should be able to read it. If you feel that you should not be lied to, then you should read this book.

P.S. I got a lot of books in New York and I think I'm gonna review them all in order. Here's a sneak preview of the reviews to come!

Well, except for the ACT prep book. That's just sitting there.