Four Ways of Thinking

A charming, original guide to how maths can help us see through the chaos and complexity of our lives.

Beyond all the facts and figures, there is just one question at the heart of science: what is the best way to think about the world? Yet in our everyday lives, this is something we rarely consider. How often do we wonder about our own thinking and how it might impact the way we approach our daily decisions? How it might help or hinder our relationships, our careers, or even our health?

Acclaimed mathematician David Sumpter has spent decades pondering what we could all learn from the attitudes and mindsets of scientists. Four Ways of Thinking is the result. Combining engaging personal experience with insightful analyses of everyday conundrums and life choices—from how to bicker less with our partners to the best way to pitch to an unreceptive audience—Sumpter shows there are four easily applied approaches to our problems: statistical, interactive, chaotic and complex.

With warmth and wit—and a tiny bit of number crunching—he guides us through all four, revealing how these tried and tested ways of thinking can change our lives. Along the way, he tells the inspiring stories of the ground-breaking mathematicians, biologists and rocket scientists who first put them into practice and transformed the world.