What's the Use? cover art

What's the Use?

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics

 Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

What's the Use?

By: Ian Stewart
Narrated by: Quentin Cooper
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Many people think mathematics is useless. They're wrong. In the UK, the 2.8 million people employed in mathematical science occupations contributed £208 billion to the economy in a single year - that's 10 per cent of the workforce contributing 16 per cent of the economy.

What's the Use? asks why there is such a vast gulf between public perceptions of mathematics and reality. It shows how mathematics is vital, often in surprising ways, behind the scenes of daily life. How politicians pick their voters. How an absurd little puzzle solved 300 years ago leads to efficient methods for kidney transplants. How an Irish mathematician's obsession with a new number system improves special effects in movies and computer games. How SatNav relies on at least six mathematical techniques. And how a bizarre, infinitely wiggly curve helps to optimise deliveries to your door.

©2021 Joat Enterprises (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Mathematics Physics Political Science String Theory
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Letters to a Young Mathematician cover art
A Brief History of Mathematics cover art
Calculating the Cosmos cover art
The Biggest Number in the World cover art
It All Adds Up cover art
Plato and the Nerd cover art
Simon Singh's Numbers cover art
A Mind for Numbers cover art
A Brief History of Black Holes cover art
The Simulated Multiverse cover art
The Magick of Matter cover art
The Primacy of Doubt cover art
Three Roads to Quantum Gravity cover art
The Prime Number Conspiracy cover art
Quantum Physics cover art
How Evolution Explains Everything About Life cover art

What listeners say about What's the Use?

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Sara BraveHeart

Mind expanding fun

Full of surprising and entertaining twists and turns as time and time again we are shown how something in mathematics is useful in a way that that those who developed it had not foreseen. Ian Stewart is a genius who wears his learning lightly.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful