
"Guesstimation" is a book that unlo c ks the power of approximation - it 's popular mathematics rounded to the nearest power of ten! The ability to estimate is an important skill in d ai ly life. More and more leading business es today use estimation questions in interviews to test applicants' abilities to think on their feet. "Guesstimation" enables anyone with basic math and science skills to estimate virtual ly anything - quickly - using plausible assumptions and elementary arithmetic. Lawrence Weinstein and John Adam present an eclectic array of estimation problems that range from devilishly simple to quite sophisticated and from serious real-world concerns to downright silly ones.How long would it take a running faucet to fill the inverted dome of the Capitol? What is the total length of all the pickles consumed in the US in one year? What are the relative merits of internal-combustion and electric cars, of coal and nuclear energy? The problems are marvelously diverse, yet the skills to solve them are the same.The authors show how easy it is to derive useful ballpark estimates by breaking complex problems into simpler, more manageable ones - and how there can be many paths to the right answer. The book is written in a question-and-answer format with lots of hints along the way. It includes a handy appendix summarizing the few formulas and basic science concepts needed, and its small size and French-f old design make it conveniently portable. Illustrated with humorous pen-and-ink sketches, "Guesstimation" will delight popular-math enthusiasts and is ideal for the classroom.
Lawrence Weinstein
奥多明尼昂 大学 物 理学 教授, 美国 物理 学会成员,在电子散射及核物理方面的 研究 工作 得到 广泛认可。
John A. Adam
奥多明尼昂大学 数学 教授,著有《大 自然 的数学:模拟自然界里的模式》。
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