Jeremy Wyndham

A fascinating book, from a leading maths educator and demystifier, that shows how maths is relevant to our everyday lives. Have you ever wondered how the meter in a taxi works? Or why a lift takes so long to respond to your call? Is there a mathematical secret to making a hit single? And how long is a piece of string? In this fascinating book you will find the answers to these and many other intriguing questions of everyday life. Discover the astonishing '37% rule' for blind dates, how to avoid the gentleman's urinal, and some extraordinary scams that people have devised to get rich quick. Here you will also find the origins of the seven-day week and the seven-note scale, an explanation of why underdogs sometimes win, some clever techniques for detecting fraud, and the reason why epidemics sweep across a nation and disappear just as quickly. How Long is a Piece of String? is the perfect book for anyone who is curious about the way in which maths underlies so much in our everyday lives. Whatever your mathematical ability level, you will find this book informative, thought-provoking and, most of all, fun. Word count: 35,000

An entertaining guide to how maths is relevant to our everyday lives. Why is it better to buy a lottery ticket on Friday? Why are showers always too hot or too cold? And which classic puzzle was destroyed by Allied bombing in the war? These and many other questions are answers in this entertaining and highly informative book. Why do Buses Come in Threes? is for anyone who wants to remind themselves – or discover for the first time – that maths is relevant to almost everything we do. Dating, cooking, travelling by car, gambling and life-saving techniques all have links with intriguing mathematical problems that you will find explained here – including the odd coincidence of 4 July, the exponential growth of Australian rabbits and a surprising formula for running in the rain without getting wet. Whether you have a degree in astrophysics or haven't touched maths since you left school, this book will change the way you view the world around you.

""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.

""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.