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Tables of Contents for Get a Grip on Your Math
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Introduction
xi
PART ONE GET A GRIP ON YOUR NUMBERS
1
158
Zero, Millions, Billions, and More
3
8
Money Is Time
3
4
The Curious Number Zero
7
4
Caution! Slippery Figures Sold Here
11
24
Number Slinging
11
1
Slippery Figures or Mathematical Proof?
12
2
Soviet Defense Outlays?
14
5
Assumptions Driven by Ideology: Reality's Revenge
19
2
Which Came First: The Numbers or the Decision?
21
2
Are American Students Really That Bad in Math and Science?
23
1
Are Statistically Safe Schools Necessarily Safe?
24
1
Are These Figures Comparable?
25
1
Does a 999/1000 Surgical Batting Average Imply a Good Heart Surgeon?
26
1
Political---Economic Spin or Just a Fast One?
27
1
Spin Versus Counterspin
28
2
More Is Less
30
1
Does This Scenario Make Sense?
30
2
Does Smoking a Cigarette Take Seven Minutes Off Your Life?
32
3
Talosian Images
35
30
Slippery Versus Fraudulent
35
1
Two for the Price of One
36
2
No Lofty Pinnacle
38
1
These Data May Give You Nightmares
38
3
Women's Nightmares
41
2
Smoking Smokescreens
43
2
Push Comes to Shove
45
1
Tailored Data
46
1
Doctored Data
47
1
Can Faking Jail Data Make You a Jail Statistic?
48
1
Are These Test Scores for Real?
49
1
Top of the Line Deception: But Who Was Deceived?
50
2
Little White Lies or Whoppers?
52
2
Number Equality By Decree?
54
2
Numbers That Do Not Behave ``Properly''
56
4
Damage Control
60
5
Caution, Speed, Reliability: We Want It All
65
8
We Need the Data, NOW
65
1
The Drug That Almost Made It
66
1
This Drug Made It, but Questions Remain
67
1
Running the Stop Signs
68
3
Can Less Be More?
71
2
What Are the Numbers and What Do They Tell Us?
73
10
``Good'' Numbers Would Help
73
1
Why the Job Loss?
74
1
Number Magic
75
1
Does This Scenario Add Up?
76
1
There's More Here Than Meets the Eye
77
2
Silence May Be Golden After All
79
1
Let's Get the Data
80
1
Let's Get the Data 2
81
1
Let's Get the Data 3
82
1
Statistics May Not Lie, But What Do They Say?
83
18
Which Interpretation Is ``Correct?''
83
1
There's Less to Baseball Statistics Than Meets the Bat
84
1
How Successful Was the Patriot?
85
1
Political Figuring
86
1
Test Scores Rise: Education Miracle or Mirage?
87
1
The Reagan Economic Boom: Blessing or Disaster?
88
3
More Spin and Counterspin
91
1
If You Don't Agree, Shut Up!
92
1
Does Baldness Cause Heart Attacks?
93
2
Weighing the Data: How Credible Is Credible?
95
6
Are We On the Right Data Trail?
101
12
Reliability Versus Relevance
101
1
A Visit to Huxley College
102
1
Which Data ``Best'' Reflect Airline Reliability?
103
1
The National Debt: Public Nuisance or Menace?
104
2
Is the Recession Over if the Statistics Say So?
106
1
TV Ratings: Can You Top This?
107
3
What Is the Unemployment Rate?
110
1
What Is the Budget Deficit?
111
2
Coming Up with the Numbers
113
32
More Easily Said Than Done
113
1
Can You Trust Polls?
114
7
Watch the Questions, Among Other Things
121
7
Were the Numbers ``Fairly'' Drawn?
128
4
Sexuality by the Numbers, or Not?
132
2
For ``Real'' Accuracy, Count Them All. Right?
134
2
Index Numbers in the News: How Reliable Are They?
136
9
Antidotes for Slippery Figures and Bogus Number Mongers
145
14
Numbers, Numbers, Everywhere
145
1
How Believable Are These Numbers? Test Questions
146
2
Strengthening the Shield Against Bogus Numbers
148
11
PART TWO GET A GRIP ON MATH MODELS
159
80
Mathematics for a Vacation Trip
161
6
Ann's Model
161
2
Andy's Model
163
1
Rasa's Trip: Who's Right?
164
3
Mathematics for Business and Economics
167
10
The Birth and Rebirth of Linear Programming
167
1
A Tale of Two Linear Programs
168
4
Is Mathematics Precise?
172
1
Falling Short: The Advertising Media Selection Problem
173
4
Mathematics and the Computer
177
4
How Could It Be Wrong? I Used a Computer
177
1
The Computer's Right of Way
178
1
If Only Computers Could Think
179
2
The Mathematics of Free Trade
181
12
Some Say Yes and Some Say No
181
1
What Do the Economic Models Say?
182
1
The Devil's in the Assumptions
183
1
What's Not in the Economic Models?
183
3
What Do the Numbers Tell Us?
186
1
Where Does This Leave Us?
187
2
Reality's Verdict
189
4
Mathematics for Astronomy
193
10
Newton Sets the Stage
193
1
A New Planet Has Been Discovered, But Where Is It?
194
1
An On-Target Prediction
195
1
Muddle Over Method
196
2
Deja Vu
198
2
Troublemakers: Mercury and Light
200
3
Mathematics and Chance
203
6
The Adventures of Hasty Harry
203
2
Reality Strikes Back
205
1
A New Model for Harry's Die
206
3
The Mathematics of Dating
209
4
Radiocarbon Dating
209
2
A Tale of Fine Art Forgery
211
2
The Mathematics of Space
213
10
Euclidean Geometry
213
3
A Non-Euclidean Challenger
216
5
Which One Is Right for Space?
221
2
A Change in the Conception of the Universe
223
6
The Impact of the Non-Euclidean Challenger
223
2
A Profile in Courage
225
4
The Mathematical Modeling Process as a Tool for Inquiry
229
6
Overview
229
4
The Final Theory?
233
2
General Lessons and Observations
235
4
Fit, Fit and Fit
235
1
The Consumer's Focus
236
3
Notes, References, and Readings of Interest
239
12
Index
251