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Books : The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS: Solving Crime with Mathematics
Product Description: The companion to the hit CBS crime series Numb3rs presents the fascinating way mathematics is used to fight real-life crime
Using the popular CBS prime-time TV crime series Numb3rs as a springboard, Keith Devlin (known to millions of NPR listeners as “the Math Guy” on NPR’s Weekend Edition with Scott Simon) and Gary Lorden (the principal math advisor to Numb3rs) explain real-life mathematical techniques used by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to catch and convict criminals. From forensics to counterterrorism, the Riemann hypothesis to image enhancement, solving murders to beating casinos, Devlin and Lorden present compelling cases that illustrate how advanced mathematics can be used in state-of-the-art criminal investigations.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Applied mathematics on TV
This book is an excellent resource to help show the successes and failures of applied mathematics in forensic science. I plan to use this book as a resource to show students that mathematics has a very practical side.
Rating: - GET A BLOODHOUND
I do well with statistics, but if youre not competent with statistics you'll miss about half of the material in this book.
You wont 'get' it, and you'll be bored.
The other things I dont like about the book are the assumptions that suspects stay put and stick to their patterns. They dont. Suspects are worse than tomcats about wandering off and staying gone.
But, hey! It keeps math geeks off welfare, and it looks good to morons who dont know any better....like police management.
Rating: - Are you kidding?
Elementary, and then some. The book is a very simple read. Anyone who can follow the show can also follow this book. But the math...
On page 84 it gives an example that says that there are 75 black taxis and 15 blue ones, correctly stating that this is a ratio of 5:1, then it goes on to say that the chances of a taxi being black are 1 out of 5. Clearly, this should have been 1 out of 6. (If there are five of one thing, plus one of another would make a total of six, not five.)
Using 1 out of 5 instead of 1 out of 6 makes the math work out easier with little difference in the overall outcome, but come on. Two guys with PhDs in math making mistakes on elementary school level math? In a book that features math?
As Einstein once said: "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
(It might also improve the book if they added an e-mail address to direct errata to next time around.)
Rating: - For Math addicts
I majored in math in college so I found this book quite interesting. I also am a fan of the show itself. It's a little technical at times but over all a good read for someone who is fascinated by modern crime solving techniques where math plays an increasingly useful role. Recommended for sleuth hounds.
Rating: - Fairly Good
Provides the background on mathematical techniques for solving eg. seemingly random crimes by identifying the most likely residence area for the perpetrator, determining whether the number of deaths while a suspect nurse is on duty is likely due to chance, assessing the likelihood that an individual within a crowd is a terrorist, etc.
The bad news is that it doesn't even reference the most famous statistical tool for crime reduction - New York City's COMPSTAT, nor does it explain how credit card companies determine that a particular transaction is likely fraudulent.
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