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El Universo y La Taza de Té
K. C. Cole desmitifica el poder de los números y concede a las matemáticas su verdadero valor en El universo y la taza de té, un libro fascinante que nos lleva a replantearnos la validez de axiomas tan conocidos como la teoría de la relatividad, el teorema de Fermat o la ley del tercio excluso. Los lectores se preguntarán hasta qué punto las matemáticas son una ciencia exacta y en qué medida pueden ayudarnos a comprender nuestra propia vida. Los círculos perfectos y los ángulos rectos no existen en la naturaleza. El ser humano inventó las matemáticas, pero está limitado para su comprensión. Nuestro cerebro parece haber sido calibrado como las escalas utilizadas para medir los seísmos, en las que un pequeño incremento representa un aumento enorme del poder destructivo. Esta peculiaridad acaso explique la incapacidad de las personas para comprender la auténtica diferencia entre un millón y un billón. No obstante, es imprescindible aprender cómo funcionan los números para entender mejor cuanto nos rodea, desde aspectos de la física hasta métodos para lograr acuerdos más justos en los divorcios. Las matemáticas son un lenguaje que nos autoriza a traducir la complejidad del mundo en pautas manejables.
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
181 people are currently reading
1504 people want to read
About the author
K.C. Cole
14 books37 followersFor the past ten years, K.C. Cole has been a science writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times; she has also written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Smithsonian, Discover, Newsweek, Newsday, Esquire, Ms., People and many other publications. Her articles were featured in The Best American Science Writing 2004 and 2005 and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002. She has also been an editor at Discover and Newsday.
Cole is the author of several nonfiction books, including Mind Over Matter: Conversations with the Cosmos; The Hole in the Universe: How Scientists Peered Over the Edge of Emptiness and Found Everything; and The Universe and the Teacup, the Mathematics of Truth and Beauty.
Cole is the author of several nonfiction books, including Mind Over Matter: Conversations with the Cosmos; The Hole in the Universe: How Scientists Peered Over the Edge of Emptiness and Found Everything; and The Universe and the Teacup, the Mathematics of Truth and Beauty.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
February 9, 2022
This is a popular science book that offers a very accessible look at how math figures in our lives, well beyond the obvious. What I found most interesting was the conclusion that math is not the bottom line hard truth we might think it to be. Everything, even math, depends on context and probability. There are many interesting notions considered here.
Chapter 5 goes into detail on how a difference in scale can also represent a difference in kind. Cole relates how scale would make it impossible for a sixty foot man to hold himself up with a body anything like the 6 foot variety. Height increases only in one dimension, area in two, volume in three. If you doubled the height of a man, the cross section, or thickness, of muscle that supports him against gravity would quadruple (two times two) and his volume and therefore weight would increase by a factor of eight. To bear such weight would require stout, thick legs. Think elephant or rhino. It called to mind a bit of personal experience. I grew up in the West Bronx, where lived the then tallest man in the world, Eddie Carmel, who measured about 8 foot 9 inches. Poor Mister Carmel was beset by a body that was incapable of comfortably carrying his mass. He walked with a cane, stooped over, and did not live anywhere close to three score and ten years, a sad example of math in action. Fleas form the opposite end of this spectrum. While their muscles are many orders of magnitude weaker than ours, the mass they have to push around is so much smaller that it makes each ant and flea into a superbeing. Leaping over tall buildings does not pose a problem.
K.C. Cole
A chapter titled Voting: Lani Guinier was Right holds a fascinating discussion of democratic methods and structures, and Chapter 11, The Mathematics of Kindness: Math Proves the Golden Rule, are both enlightening. I have a different take on the latter than the author, parallel, not contrary, but both chapters are thought-provoking.
Probability comes in for some heavy, and interesting inspection as well. I would expect the odds are better than even that if you have any interest at all in how things work, enjoy learning new things, or just like accumulating interesting bites of info about life at large, you will enjoy this very easy-to-read book.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
Chapter 5 goes into detail on how a difference in scale can also represent a difference in kind. Cole relates how scale would make it impossible for a sixty foot man to hold himself up with a body anything like the 6 foot variety. Height increases only in one dimension, area in two, volume in three. If you doubled the height of a man, the cross section, or thickness, of muscle that supports him against gravity would quadruple (two times two) and his volume and therefore weight would increase by a factor of eight. To bear such weight would require stout, thick legs. Think elephant or rhino. It called to mind a bit of personal experience. I grew up in the West Bronx, where lived the then tallest man in the world, Eddie Carmel, who measured about 8 foot 9 inches. Poor Mister Carmel was beset by a body that was incapable of comfortably carrying his mass. He walked with a cane, stooped over, and did not live anywhere close to three score and ten years, a sad example of math in action. Fleas form the opposite end of this spectrum. While their muscles are many orders of magnitude weaker than ours, the mass they have to push around is so much smaller that it makes each ant and flea into a superbeing. Leaping over tall buildings does not pose a problem.
K.C. Cole
A chapter titled Voting: Lani Guinier was Right holds a fascinating discussion of democratic methods and structures, and Chapter 11, The Mathematics of Kindness: Math Proves the Golden Rule, are both enlightening. I have a different take on the latter than the author, parallel, not contrary, but both chapters are thought-provoking.
Probability comes in for some heavy, and interesting inspection as well. I would expect the odds are better than even that if you have any interest at all in how things work, enjoy learning new things, or just like accumulating interesting bites of info about life at large, you will enjoy this very easy-to-read book.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
June 1, 2013
I couldn't find anything interesting about this book. All topics are superficial. The author keeps jumping from point to point, hardly addresses any topic with depth. If you have read many science books don't read this. I am sure you already now all the facts and relationships that she tries to cover.
April 18, 2008
Meh. The author brings up a lot interesting points, but the connections are weak or odd at best. I mean, comparing the 'tipping point' to failing social programs? Odd.
No math is actually involved, no formulas were allowed here, thankyouverymuch. It makes sense, she is aiming for the lay person and trying to get them engaged with the concepts, but it makes for a weak math book.
There were a few factual errors that I noticed, like in chapter two. She leads in with "The Milky Way galaxy contains 200 billion stars..." but a couple of pages later she states: "Fifteen billion is also more or less the number of stars in the galaxy."
Um. 200 billion is quite a bit more than 15 billion. Not a huge deal, but this was indicative of the book, a few errors here and there.
Another thing that annoyed me is she spent a chapter discussing how broken the US election system is, but not once does she mention the Electoral College. Will Hively in 1996 discussed how the Electoral College does, in fact, work in his article "Math Against Tyranny". There are copies out in the intraweb, I recommend looking one up.
Anyway, there are better books out there, give this one a pass.
No math is actually involved, no formulas were allowed here, thankyouverymuch. It makes sense, she is aiming for the lay person and trying to get them engaged with the concepts, but it makes for a weak math book.
There were a few factual errors that I noticed, like in chapter two. She leads in with "The Milky Way galaxy contains 200 billion stars..." but a couple of pages later she states: "Fifteen billion is also more or less the number of stars in the galaxy."
Um. 200 billion is quite a bit more than 15 billion. Not a huge deal, but this was indicative of the book, a few errors here and there.
Another thing that annoyed me is she spent a chapter discussing how broken the US election system is, but not once does she mention the Electoral College. Will Hively in 1996 discussed how the Electoral College does, in fact, work in his article "Math Against Tyranny". There are copies out in the intraweb, I recommend looking one up.
Anyway, there are better books out there, give this one a pass.
July 23, 2023
A science book dumbed-down for the lay person. Cool, thank you, though there was no actual math in the book. No formulas to prove a point or hypothesis—which I thought the book was going to be about and why I was interested in reading it. Apparently, my expectations were either false or too high (or both), as math only applied tangentially to the various topics the author discussed. And when math was invoked, the connections between it and, say, prediction or kindness (and a host of other topics that would have been fascinating had math played an actual, provable role) were extraordinarily weak and insufficient.
Again, perhaps my expectations were too high. Though this book has now put me on a hunt for finding another title that actually does show, through numbers/equations/formulas, how math influences more than we thought it did.
Again, perhaps my expectations were too high. Though this book has now put me on a hunt for finding another title that actually does show, through numbers/equations/formulas, how math influences more than we thought it did.
February 26, 2011
A book that probably didn't need to be written. It was an OK read, but I didn't find anything new that she had to say. And the chapter on Emmy Noether and Albert Einstein (the reason I bought the book in the first place) was bland and disappointing.
May 25, 2010
I bought this book in 1999 and recently found it in a closet.
Even though the cover says this is a math book, I didn't find it to be so. Yes, there is some math in it but Ms. Cole is more of an observer. As a "non-scientist" I did not feel totally lost within the book, I felt as if I was being introduced to new concepts at a very high level, with some delving into details.
The book contains five parts which touch on mathematics, social issues and how they relate to one another. Some parts, in my case, needed to be re-read to understand - but that's the nature of many books especially on this subject.
Ms. Cole tries to keep the imagery of her examples clear and informal using current events (of 1999) as a stage. I think that the effort put forth in the book to explain complex thoughts in simple terms is commendable and admirable - even though sometimes it just doesn't "click".
This book is not meant for the mathematician, but for us layman who want to understand physics using an informal style while getting an insight of how those ideas affect us and our society in our daily lives.
Even though the cover says this is a math book, I didn't find it to be so. Yes, there is some math in it but Ms. Cole is more of an observer. As a "non-scientist" I did not feel totally lost within the book, I felt as if I was being introduced to new concepts at a very high level, with some delving into details.
The book contains five parts which touch on mathematics, social issues and how they relate to one another. Some parts, in my case, needed to be re-read to understand - but that's the nature of many books especially on this subject.
Ms. Cole tries to keep the imagery of her examples clear and informal using current events (of 1999) as a stage. I think that the effort put forth in the book to explain complex thoughts in simple terms is commendable and admirable - even though sometimes it just doesn't "click".
This book is not meant for the mathematician, but for us layman who want to understand physics using an informal style while getting an insight of how those ideas affect us and our society in our daily lives.
June 28, 2019
Interesting stuff
October 9, 2019
Several eloquent essays about math and statistics/probability and physics, in the context of the real, real world we live in, observe and wonder about.
December 16, 2024
I was in the waiting area of the Dehradun airport waiting to board a plane heading to Mumbai. To pass the time, I was reading Freedom from the Known by J. Krishnamurti when a guy walked past and noticed I was reading a book. He ducked down to see what book I was reading and gave me a thumbs up. A couple of minutes later, the same guy passed by and gave me The Universe and the Teacup. He said he was glad to see me reading Krishnamurti, and he thought that I might like this book about math. I was so confused but so happy at the same time.
I didn't end up reading the book until a month later. I read it because one day I woke up with the urge to read it after not having thought about the book in a while. I ended up liking the book!. Just as it says in the description of the book, it taught me that math doesn't have to be so frightening.
I didn't like math before reading this book. Now after reading this book, I don't love it, but I like it.
I didn't end up reading the book until a month later. I read it because one day I woke up with the urge to read it after not having thought about the book in a while. I ended up liking the book!. Just as it says in the description of the book, it taught me that math doesn't have to be so frightening.
I didn't like math before reading this book. Now after reading this book, I don't love it, but I like it.
April 5, 2022
This book should have been titled "An Enumeration of Remotely Mathematical Things You Already Knew About".
It lacks both structure and depth. As others have pointed out, I wouldn't call it a book about mathematics. Instead of writing about mathematical applications, Cole makes strange and far-fetched comparisons between psychology and something she calls maths.
She doesn't bring anything new either. For example, there's a whole chapter about how humans assess their risks. The author's point is clearly "We're not good at it, because we're not so rational as we think", but in the end it's just an enumeration of anecdotes we've all heard about before, leading to conclusions we are already familiar with. Sometimes, she even makes false statements trying to prove her point.
At rare times when things do get interesting, Cole just jumps to the next item. The depth in this book is non-existent. Either you get what she's saying because you already know, or you don't because she doesn't explain it very well. Don't worry though: within the next five lines she'll mention something else which you do understand.
Advice: don't read this book.
It lacks both structure and depth. As others have pointed out, I wouldn't call it a book about mathematics. Instead of writing about mathematical applications, Cole makes strange and far-fetched comparisons between psychology and something she calls maths.
She doesn't bring anything new either. For example, there's a whole chapter about how humans assess their risks. The author's point is clearly "We're not good at it, because we're not so rational as we think", but in the end it's just an enumeration of anecdotes we've all heard about before, leading to conclusions we are already familiar with. Sometimes, she even makes false statements trying to prove her point.
At rare times when things do get interesting, Cole just jumps to the next item. The depth in this book is non-existent. Either you get what she's saying because you already know, or you don't because she doesn't explain it very well. Don't worry though: within the next five lines she'll mention something else which you do understand.
Advice: don't read this book.
June 17, 2015
This book is really worth reading. Although I put it in the math shelf and it's title also suggests so, it is not a math book. It talks about many aspects in daily life, covering general math and science maybe even psychology. The book talks a lot about scales, reference frames, and point of view, and the book itself serves very well as a different point of view on the world we live in. Is it true? Or is it not true? Do we really know if it's true or not true? How well do we know what we think we know? And how well do we know how well we know what we think we know?
This book was recommended or referenced by one of youtube channels or the blogs I follow and subscribe, including but limited to ASAP Science, CGP Grey, MinuteEarth, minutephysics, SmarterEveryDay, Veritasium, Vsauce, WonderWhy, Matrix67(blog).
This one was probably referenced by Vsauce.
This book was recommended or referenced by one of youtube channels or the blogs I follow and subscribe, including but limited to ASAP Science, CGP Grey, MinuteEarth, minutephysics, SmarterEveryDay, Veritasium, Vsauce, WonderWhy, Matrix67(blog).
This one was probably referenced by Vsauce.
June 29, 2017
Disappointing. Readable but lacking in depth and clarity. A slapdash survey of mathematical concepts and applications to science as well as to everyday life, presented in a "newspaper reporter" style. Adequate in getting one's feet wet, like wading in the kiddie pool.
April 26, 2018
Even though I enjoy reading about mathematics, this book delivered due to the way it delved into topics that were interesting but not typically associated with math at the level that the author managed.
December 31, 2021
Unfortunately, the author doesn't actually define key concepts that are later discussed, mostly through quotes from secondary materials. There is a lot of bouncing around, some of which is illogical. Don't bother.
June 23, 2015
A snoozer, not for scientists. The book jumps from topic to topic with little depth.
January 13, 2017
A pretty good book, though it's not necessarily as math-oriented as the title suggests. It's more a guide to understanding thr World from the points of view of science, logic and rationality.
June 27, 2020
DNF. sort of an out of date freakonomics. way too broad of a definition of math to be informative.
January 5, 2021
Would have given it five stars but that one chapter symmetry ruined it for me. Has to be the most approachable and beautiful math book I have ever come across.
November 22, 2023
Providing the beauty of the universe in a teacup of mathematics, this book reveals the truths, the symmetry, and the alleged truths of the universe, as well as all the contradictions therein. My experience with this book was that it wasn't heavy (no equations, except 'the one') and that even the complex concepts were dealt with in a very readable way despite the complexity. This easy-to-read nature of the book is both its strength and its greatest shortcoming at the same time. The ideas presented in this book are easy to read and understand, however, I did not gain a deeper understanding of any of the topics covered, even though I enjoyed it.
Cole begins by explaining what mathematics has to do with all this, and though the relationship between mathematics and the universe is, on the whole, an interesting one, it is sometimes left to the sidelines. This is not the case in the later chapters of the book as math is not used as the link to bind the story together. There is no reason to think, however, that these chapters are any less readable or enjoyable for that matter.
Cole connects the mathematics of risk with the universe, and how we tend to (mis)count the risks. He talks about the limits of measurement, human’s (in)capacity to cope with the scale, whether it’s a minute or a thousand. How do we find and isolate the signals, like looking for a needle in a haystack? He analyzes the various voting methods and their pros and cons. (I loved his example; it’s so easy to remember and relate.)
Cole connects kindness to mathematics, though I wish he’d dig a little deeper. He finishes by talking about the truth itself. I’d recommend this as a light book on a very complex subject, especially for someone who isn’t an expert but wants to build interest in the subject.
Cole begins by explaining what mathematics has to do with all this, and though the relationship between mathematics and the universe is, on the whole, an interesting one, it is sometimes left to the sidelines. This is not the case in the later chapters of the book as math is not used as the link to bind the story together. There is no reason to think, however, that these chapters are any less readable or enjoyable for that matter.
Cole connects the mathematics of risk with the universe, and how we tend to (mis)count the risks. He talks about the limits of measurement, human’s (in)capacity to cope with the scale, whether it’s a minute or a thousand. How do we find and isolate the signals, like looking for a needle in a haystack? He analyzes the various voting methods and their pros and cons. (I loved his example; it’s so easy to remember and relate.)
Cole connects kindness to mathematics, though I wish he’d dig a little deeper. He finishes by talking about the truth itself. I’d recommend this as a light book on a very complex subject, especially for someone who isn’t an expert but wants to build interest in the subject.
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August 18, 2025O Universo em uma Xícara de Chá, da jornalista científica K.C. Cole, é uma das obras mais encantadoras da divulgação científica moderna. Combinando rigor e sensibilidade, a autora transforma conceitos que poderiam parecer áridos — como buracos negros, partículas subatômicas ou a expansão do universo — em imagens que cabem dentro do cotidiano, como a simples metáfora de uma xícara de chá.
O grande mérito do livro está em sua linguagem: clara, envolvente e, ao mesmo tempo, poética. K.C. Cole não escreve apenas para informar, mas para fazer o leitor sentir o assombro que a ciência carrega. Ler suas páginas é redescobrir o mundo com olhos curiosos, como se a realidade tivesse camadas ocultas reveladas pouco a pouco.
É verdade que leitores mais experientes em física podem achar o conteúdo simplificado, mas essa é justamente a intenção da autora: criar pontes entre o conhecimento científico e o público leigo, sem fórmulas complicadas e sem perder a magia do mistério.
Quando li este livro, anos atrás, lembro de como ele despertou em mim um entusiasmo genuíno. Hoje, mesmo sem recordar todos os detalhes, o que permanece é a sensação de maravilhamento — a certeza de que somos parte de um universo vasto e misterioso, e que a ciência é uma forma de poesia capaz de revelar essa beleza.
Recomendo a todos os que desejam compreender melhor o cosmos, não apenas pela ótica fria dos números, mas pela emoção de quem vê grandeza no simples, infinito no cotidiano.
O grande mérito do livro está em sua linguagem: clara, envolvente e, ao mesmo tempo, poética. K.C. Cole não escreve apenas para informar, mas para fazer o leitor sentir o assombro que a ciência carrega. Ler suas páginas é redescobrir o mundo com olhos curiosos, como se a realidade tivesse camadas ocultas reveladas pouco a pouco.
É verdade que leitores mais experientes em física podem achar o conteúdo simplificado, mas essa é justamente a intenção da autora: criar pontes entre o conhecimento científico e o público leigo, sem fórmulas complicadas e sem perder a magia do mistério.
Quando li este livro, anos atrás, lembro de como ele despertou em mim um entusiasmo genuíno. Hoje, mesmo sem recordar todos os detalhes, o que permanece é a sensação de maravilhamento — a certeza de que somos parte de um universo vasto e misterioso, e que a ciência é uma forma de poesia capaz de revelar essa beleza.
Recomendo a todos os que desejam compreender melhor o cosmos, não apenas pela ótica fria dos números, mas pela emoção de quem vê grandeza no simples, infinito no cotidiano.
April 13, 2021
Tenía un mejor recuerdo. Releyéndolo me doy cuenta que es un artículo promedio inflado: mucho del contenido refrita clásicos como Matemáticas e imaginación de Newman y Kasner, repite una y otra vez las mismas ideas con distintas variantes y abunda en generalidades sin profundizar en nada en particular. Me siguen interesando los autores que hacen accesible campos complejos para los no especialistas como yo, pero el abordaje de este libro lo aleja de la ciencia y lo acerca a lo banal. Gran contraste con cualquier libro de Isaac Asimov por ejemplo que, sin ser deslumbrante, tiene una densidad de información, una narrativa para hilar el contenido y una rigurosidad y precisión que debería ser lo esperable de este tipo de libros.
En cuanto a la estructura tiene cuatro partes: las dos primeras acerca de lo exponencial, los riesgos y el mundo físico son lo que más se salva, y luego sobre el mundo social y la verdad que corren ya con peor suerte. Me llama la atención que lo haya leído entero porque solo releyendo mis marcas (lo que consideré más interesante en su momento) se me hizo tedioso e insustancial.
Más sobre esta reseña y otras en:
https://pablomariafernandez.substack....
En cuanto a la estructura tiene cuatro partes: las dos primeras acerca de lo exponencial, los riesgos y el mundo físico son lo que más se salva, y luego sobre el mundo social y la verdad que corren ya con peor suerte. Me llama la atención que lo haya leído entero porque solo releyendo mis marcas (lo que consideré más interesante en su momento) se me hizo tedioso e insustancial.
Más sobre esta reseña y otras en:
https://pablomariafernandez.substack....
July 25, 2017
NonFiction Brilliant
I read this years ago and if math can be life-changing, this is the book that will do it.
I believe this book would appeal to a wide range of readers. In other words, you don't have to be a brainiac or a math genius to enjoy it.
A fascinating book that held my attention to the very end. It uses math to solve practical problems that we all run into in life, such as how to divide up everything in a parent's estate.
Highly recommended!
I read this years ago and if math can be life-changing, this is the book that will do it.
I believe this book would appeal to a wide range of readers. In other words, you don't have to be a brainiac or a math genius to enjoy it.
A fascinating book that held my attention to the very end. It uses math to solve practical problems that we all run into in life, such as how to divide up everything in a parent's estate.
Highly recommended!
October 23, 2024
Sometimes, you just need a reminder that mathematics is good for something, and this book is it. While there's a lot of theoretical content, this book shows the ways that statistics, averages, probability, symmetry, and other mathematical concepts affect how we think and perceive the world. I keep coming back to quotes from this book in my daily conversations, and I'm eager to read a few of the works cited, as I like that feeling of understanding that books like this give me.
April 3, 2018
A fascinating collection of facts and observations, worthwhile for that reason alone. There are some maddening flaws--category errors, misleading and biased characterizations, inadequate attention to the philosophy of science and mathematics--but these seem mostly attributable to a desire to appeal to a popular audience and are outweighed by the overall merit of the book.
August 6, 2022
This is pop mathematics, with assorted discussion of the math of various topics supported by an occasional handwave. I realize that this is necessary to get people other than me to read it, but there was no way to follow up anything to check anything dubious-looking or interesting. I found it overly fluffy and to say things I didn't think quite right.
July 6, 2024
It’s a decent book. It tries its best to explain concepts in a very dumbed down manner.
So, if you are a math & physics scholar/ someone who has studied math or physics, this book isn’t for you.
But, if you are just a regular person who wants to know more about Math - give it a read, it’s not a bad book!
So, if you are a math & physics scholar/ someone who has studied math or physics, this book isn’t for you.
But, if you are just a regular person who wants to know more about Math - give it a read, it’s not a bad book!
January 28, 2025
Interesting topics, but not enough detail to make it worth reading. It's pop science, and I didn't gain much, as a person who has had contact with several types of mathematics, throughout my education.
November 10, 2018
Boring. Mildly edge with muh feminism. Really basic.
All in all I should have expected as much from a journalist. I wanted something educational and I got something dated and political.
All in all I should have expected as much from a journalist. I wanted something educational and I got something dated and political.
May 9, 2020
Absolutely brilliant. Couldn't recommend it more. Especially for those that have a problematic relationship with math, and experience math anxiety.
May 16, 2020
A reasonable book. My lack of physics knowledge made it more difficult to understand than it should have been.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews