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How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything
How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? How many people are having sex at this moment? How long would it take a monkey on a typewriter to produce the plays of Shakespeare? For all those questions that keep you up at night, here€™s the way to answer them. And the beauty of it is that it€™s all approximate!Using Enrico Fermi€™s theory of approximation, Santos brings the world of numbers into perspective. For puzzle junkies and trivia fanatics, these 70 word puzzles will show the reader how to take a bit of information, add what they already know, and extrapolate an answer.Santos has done the make math and the multiple possibilities of numbers fun and informative. Can you really cry a river? Is it possible to dig your way out of jail with just a teaspoon and before your life sentence is up?Taking an academic subject and using it as the prism to view everyday off-the-wall questions as math problems to be solved is a natural step for the lovers o
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
38 people are currently reading
430 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 6, 2023
تخمین زدن هنر عجیبیه!
به شفایفت ذهن، درک بهتر محیط اطراف و اتفاقات منجر میشه.
هر چند این کتاب کمک بزرگی نمیکنه اما خوندنشم خالی از لطف نیس :)
به شفایفت ذهن، درک بهتر محیط اطراف و اتفاقات منجر میشه.
هر چند این کتاب کمک بزرگی نمیکنه اما خوندنشم خالی از لطف نیس :)
November 12, 2017
کتاب ایده جالبی دارد از یک نویسنده با رشته فیزیک. تخمین زدن همه چیز. از شیر مرغ تا جان آدمیزاد.
شاید به نظر بعضی از تخمینها مسخره به نظر برسد ولی میدانیم که ایده، ایده فوقالعادهای است. همواره ایدهپردازی اونوریها برام جالب بوده.
شاید به نظر بعضی از تخمینها مسخره به نظر برسد ولی میدانیم که ایده، ایده فوقالعادهای است. همواره ایدهپردازی اونوریها برام جالب بوده.
January 3, 2015
I would recommend this book to anyone who says "I don't know and I can't even think where to start with answering your question" when asked things like "approximately how many electricians are there in Manchester?". While the answer to that question may not be important, the skill of being about to estimate and calibrate is very useful in both our work and personal lives. And too often managers are unable to work out reasonable estimates or guidelines for their teams because they don't know the right questions to ask or how to do the simple calculations to get to the estimate.
I had high hopes for this book and wanted a variety of estimation tools and forms of calculations that we could use. For instance, the author could have included examples where there is a top down and bottom up calculation and shown how close (or far apart) the answers might be using the different approaches.
The strength of the book is that it simplifies maths in a way that (I think) is accessible to most people and holds your hand through the problems. And so I thought the book started out very well. The downside of the book is that it basically contains many examples of the same type of problem - so if you want lots of problem sets, then this is the one for you. Or if you have kids, then it's probably fun to work through some of the problems with them...I say some because there are questions about sex and orgasms which you may or may not want to brief your kids about).
It also perhaps gives one inspiration to look up baseline figures that would help us begin to estimate things that are relevant in our lives.
I had high hopes for this book and wanted a variety of estimation tools and forms of calculations that we could use. For instance, the author could have included examples where there is a top down and bottom up calculation and shown how close (or far apart) the answers might be using the different approaches.
The strength of the book is that it simplifies maths in a way that (I think) is accessible to most people and holds your hand through the problems. And so I thought the book started out very well. The downside of the book is that it basically contains many examples of the same type of problem - so if you want lots of problem sets, then this is the one for you. Or if you have kids, then it's probably fun to work through some of the problems with them...I say some because there are questions about sex and orgasms which you may or may not want to brief your kids about).
It also perhaps gives one inspiration to look up baseline figures that would help us begin to estimate things that are relevant in our lives.
September 11, 2011
I bought this book for my dad as part of his Christmas presents last year and I finally decided to read it myself.
This book is based primarily on Fermi problems. It gives you the techniques needed to solve problems- both with maths and worded problems.
A neat book, and amusing.
This book is based primarily on Fermi problems. It gives you the techniques needed to solve problems- both with maths and worded problems.
A neat book, and amusing.
November 9, 2020
The process explained in the book can be summarised in 5 points:
The rest are examples of calculations.
It's a book that can be fun if you like the format of the Guinness World Records' book where you read a few paragraphs of a fascinating thing and then move on to the next. Or if you want a ton of examples on how to estimate things like "How much can hair grow in a lifetime?", "How many people are. having sex right now?" or "How tall would be an encyclopaedia containing all the websites available online?".
The rest are examples of calculations.
It's a book that can be fun if you like the format of the Guinness World Records' book where you read a few paragraphs of a fascinating thing and then move on to the next. Or if you want a ton of examples on how to estimate things like "How much can hair grow in a lifetime?", "How many people are. having sex right now?" or "How tall would be an encyclopaedia containing all the websites available online?".
August 3, 2018
A classmate asked me "how many windows are in New York City?" and it was the funniest thing to watch me attempt to figure it out, or so I was told.
I am told that these are the types of questions that were formerly such an integral part of interviews for candidates at firms like JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs, and not because companies actually cared how close they got to the answer--should there actually be one. The idea that one cares more about how one thinks and is able to problem solve is fundamental to education and especially that of math instructors.
An inclination is to make this somehow integral to my own practice (maybe monthly or quarterly); however, more important that how to incorporate Santos' work in my daily classroom, is a thoughtful approach to how to teach students to think through these challenging questions for nothing more than the beauty of problem solving. Who cares about the answer(s)? There are none, only more questions and better more efficient ways as problem solving.
I am told that these are the types of questions that were formerly such an integral part of interviews for candidates at firms like JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs, and not because companies actually cared how close they got to the answer--should there actually be one. The idea that one cares more about how one thinks and is able to problem solve is fundamental to education and especially that of math instructors.
An inclination is to make this somehow integral to my own practice (maybe monthly or quarterly); however, more important that how to incorporate Santos' work in my daily classroom, is a thoughtful approach to how to teach students to think through these challenging questions for nothing more than the beauty of problem solving. Who cares about the answer(s)? There are none, only more questions and better more efficient ways as problem solving.
October 21, 2024
What a title! While this book is about estimating, it’s really more about process and understanding “unit conversion”, a technique I learned in 10th grade chemistry many years ago. The early part oof the book is about technique while the bulk of this book is a set of examples—set as problems—that show how to use the technique to estimate numerical things. It’s a fun book. Learn unit conversion and you can broadly estimate anything. This isn’t a book about “exactly”, but about “approximately”, often “order of magnitude”. Try it.
July 2, 2017
A pretty cool book, I really enjoyed it!
Most of the problems-estimations were really interesting; it was fun to give it a try before going to the answer. I do not agree with some of the final answers, though (e.g. the one with the lollipop).
I love Fermi problems, and this is a good book to find new problems to tackle at the beach.
Most of the problems-estimations were really interesting; it was fun to give it a try before going to the answer. I do not agree with some of the final answers, though (e.g. the one with the lollipop).
I love Fermi problems, and this is a good book to find new problems to tackle at the beach.
December 26, 2021
کتاب ایده ساده ای دارد. اینکه چند لیس برای تمام کردن آبنبات کافی است؟ یا با چند پله میتوان به ماه رسید و چقدر زمان میبرد تا تیشرت ما در ماشین لباسشویی به پرز تبدیل شود؟
ایده اساسی کتاب ساده سازی و استفاده از داده های کلی و فرضی و ضرب و تقسیم است. نکته منفی اینکه ترجمه به یک ویراستاری درست حسابی نیاز دارد
ایده اساسی کتاب ساده سازی و استفاده از داده های کلی و فرضی و ضرب و تقسیم است. نکته منفی اینکه ترجمه به یک ویراستاری درست حسابی نیاز دارد
April 2, 2023
چند تا لیس، تخمین کاربردی و درست را به مخاطب یاد میدهد تا در دام هر خبری نیفتد. کتاب پر از مثال است و با زبانی ساده، روان و قابل فهم، ما را با مهارت تخمین آشنا میکند.
لینک کتاب در طاقچه
https://taaghche.com/book/100435
لینک کتاب در طاقچه
https://taaghche.com/book/100435
July 30, 2017
Interesting read, I wasn't interested in doing the problems myself.
October 23, 2017
ارزش اندازهگیری و مقیاسها را در علم و زندگی بدانید. این کتاب میخواهد اینرا به خوانندهاش بدهد و اینکه چطور باید تخمین بزنیم اندازهها را.
June 22, 2020
I thought...”oh math!” But nope! This book makes too many guesses for my perfectionist number brain to handle. I guess based on the title (how to estimate...blah blah blah) I should have expected.
February 23, 2022
I just liked the introduction and first chapter. The rest of examples I think is not worth it.
August 13, 2022
راجع به تخمین زدن هست ولی باید بگم خیلی ساده و واضحه اکثر مسئله هاش
ولی خب بانمکه، مثلا یه مسئله ش میگه چقدر عشای ربانی باید برگزار بشه که گوشت حضرت مسیح تموم بشه !!
ولی خب بانمکه، مثلا یه مسئله ش میگه چقدر عشای ربانی باید برگزار بشه که گوشت حضرت مسیح تموم بشه !!
October 8, 2012
A fun, quick read about how to do quick mathematical estimates of many things. I was hoping there would be fewer "look up this number on Google and plug it into this equation" examples than there were, but all of the examples were funny, interesting, and real-world types of questions one might ask. Aaron is a college buddy of mine, but this review wasn't biased by that fact -- I didn't realize he was the author until after I finished the book! Way to go Aaron!
April 7, 2016
The book advertises some fancy math, but it's actually about a pretty straightforward formula that can be applied to almost everything that needs approximation, then follows up with many interesting examples.
All in all, a nice read if you're into a bit of trivia.
All in all, a nice read if you're into a bit of trivia.
April 24, 2010
Simple, Educational, Entertaining.
March 27, 2011
Fantastic and easy read that equips you with the structures, approximations and yardsticks needed to estimate everything, seriously.
May 19, 2012
Good refresher on math and science formulas.
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October 2, 2012Featured on Skeptically Speaking show #41 on January 8, 2010, during an interview with author Aaron Santos. http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/episode...
July 18, 2015
The author introduces his method in the first few pages, nothing fancy, and the rest of the book is a set of examples of useless but curious approximations.
April 14, 2017
Definitely a fun read! The questions depend on internet resources which is disappointing yet realistic... who doesn't use google when stuck?!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews