Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 23:17:54 CDT From: rusin (Dave Rusin) To: johnd@deltec.co.nz Subject: Re: Numerical Paradox - any collections of ? Newsgroups: sci.math.num-analysis In article <1995Jun26.013512.29655@deltec.co.nz> you write: >Any suggested reading for the not-so-numerate, with >regard to any numerical or statistical paradox ? "How to Lie with Statistics". I think it was in that book that I was first introduced to this paradox: Imagine an idealized university with two departments, math and literature. A complaint leads to the following discovery: the university is accepting a smaller portion of female applicants as students than male applicants. Naturally, the university seeks to fix the problem, beginning with the determination of which department is in the wrong. The following data result. Number of students applying and accepted Male Female Math 80, 30 (37.5%) 20, 10 (50%) Literature 20, 5 (25%) 80, 22 (27.5%) Total 100, 35 100, 32 How, then, does one assign blame in the university or (more constructively) ameliorate the situation with fairness to all? The classic "Mathematics made difficult" is often mentioned in the math newsgroup. It includes some paradoxical material. Outside of logic/set theory and statistics/probability, I don't think you will find many real "paradoxes", but there are certainly some surprising results in mathematics. dave PS - I forgot to mention things like the paint can which only holds a finite volume of paint but whose inner surface requires an infinite amount of paint to coat it. Must be one of the surfaces z=-r^k in cylindrical coordinates.