Humble Pi Audiobook By Matt Parker cover art

Humble Pi

A Comedy of Maths Errors

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Humble Pi

By: Matt Parker
Narrated by: Matt Parker
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.43

Buy for $17.43

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Humble Pi written and read by Matt Parker.

What makes a bridge wobble when it's not meant to? Billions of dollars mysteriously vanish into thin air? A building rock when its resonant frequency matches a gym class leaping to Snap's 1990 hit I've Got The Power? The answer is maths. Or, to be precise, what happens when maths goes wrong in the real world.

As Matt Parker shows us, our modern lives are built on maths: computer programmes, finance, engineering. And most of the time this maths works quietly behind the scenes, until...it doesn't. Exploring and explaining a litany of glitches, near-misses and mishaps involving the internet, big data, elections, street signs, lotteries, the Roman empire and a hapless Olympic shooting team, Matt Parker shows us the bizarre ways maths trips us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world.

Mathematics doesn't have good 'people skills', but we would all be better off, he argues, if we saw it as a practical ally. This book shows how, by making maths our friend, we can learn from its pitfalls. It also contains puzzles, challenges, geometric socks, jokes about binary code and three deliberate mistakes. Getting it wrong has never been more fun.

©2019 Matt Parker (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Mathematics Political Science
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Matt Parker has pulled off something wonderful...his stories are superb." (Marcus Berkmann)

"Bought it yesterday, enjoying it enormously, well done!" (Dara Ó Briain)

"[Matt Parker] shows off math at its most playful and multifarious." (Jordan Ellenberg, author of How to Not Be Wrong)

What listeners say about Humble Pi

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    245
  • 4 Stars
    63
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    252
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    210
  • 4 Stars
    69
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

_

if you've already watched his youtube material you will already have heard most of this.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

Great content for audiobook. I am curious if it is understandable by someone with no interest in maths.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Chuckles, chuckles and some serious maths!

Loved it! Full of chuckles, full of serious math!

Gives you a whole another perspective of the importance of getting math right when needed.

A lovely book for all-a horror book for engineers!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Humor

This book was a sweet bundle of comedy of errors. One of the standout was bodybuilding.com week debate. The whole time I was laughing. But the best part is where I got to learn new stuff from these stories.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Legendary book!

Such a good book and masterfully read! Please make an audiobook of Things To See And Do In The Fourth Dimension! Please!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

literally better than 98.5% of maths books

literally better than 98.5% of maths books out there and that's an undeniable fact.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mathematical laughs

if you like funny stories of human mathematical and programming error, and if you'd like those stories told to you in causal manner by a mate. This might be for you.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Geeat book

Great book about math and what happens when things go wrong. Told by the author who is really funny. Recommend it!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The best Mat(t/hs) book this year

Wanted to give it 3, 1 and 4 stars. But it's just too good. So instead I give it 6.28 stars in each category, rounded to the nearest possible star rating. Great job Mat(t/hs)!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable !

Very enjoyable book with great story's, both fun and educational. Matt's voice is unmatched.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful