Review of
The
Calculus of Happiness: How a Mathematical Approach to Life Adds Up to Health,
Wealth, and Love, by Oscar E. Fernandez, Princeton
University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2017. 176 pp., $24.95 (hardbound).
ISBN9780691168630.
Five out of five stars
To the
mathematician, the title is a bit misleading, for there is really nothing in
the areas of differential and integral calculus. The content used in the
descriptions and explanations is that found in standard college algebra and
precalculus classes. This points out the most obvious use of the book, as a
source of material for “real world” examples in such classes. Linear,
polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions are all used to compute ways
to increase happiness.
The paths to
happiness are losing weight, reasonably accurate metrics for predicting
lifespan, eating the right foods in the correct amounts, performing a detailed
budget analysis, the most efficient and effective ways to invest money and
equations that can be used to predict the number of people in an area that are
your best matches for personal relationships. Successfully following these
paths is demonstrated using equations based on data and very justifiable
assumptions, making them excellent examples for the classroom.
It is a good
bet that there is not an experienced math teacher on the planet that has not
heard the question in an algebra class, “What will we ever use this stuff for?”
This book contains many effective responses.
No comments:
Post a Comment