The Complete How to Figure It: Using Math in Everyday Life [Paperback]

Darrell Huff (Author), Carolyn R. Kinsey (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

An all-in-one compendium of easy techniques for all kinds of calculations, from personal finance to home improvement.

Budgeting and personal finance, planning for retirement, buying a house, estimating travel and leisure expenses, estimating costs of home repair: modern life presents us with an array of calculations we need to make but may not know how. Now, with his trademark wry humor and simple language, Darrell Huff explains how to figure: the likely outcome of different investments; how much home insurance is enough; whether it makes more sense to buy or lease a new car; the most efficient way to save for future needs, from vacations to college tuition; air-conditioning and heating requirements for a new house; how many rolls of wallpaper you will need for a particular room; and much more. Here are tips for getting the most out of a modest pocket calculator or home computer to make tedious calcuations easy, a handy chapter on "Math in a Hurry," and even tips on improving your chances in tennis, horse racing, and blackjack. Line drawings

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The author of the math classic How To Lie with Statistics (1954) has since focused his publishing career more in the areas of home economics and home improvements. This background has strongly influenced the contents of his present book, which provides eclectic advice on topics ranging from sizing a wood stove to buying meat, from comparing retirement plans to designing a cantilevered deck. Library patrons would be more likely to look for this kind of information in other sources. An odd thing about the presentation is that Huff never uses mathematical symbols and equations. Instead, he writes out the equations. For example, the section on solving a quadratic equation starts out "Multiply four times the first number by the third number..." Also, readers will need to have a scientific calculator handy that can handle logarithms, trigonometric functions, and other fairly complicated calculations.?Amy Brunvand, Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Huff, who wrote the classic How to Lie with Statistics, now draws his resources into a thick collection of math tips and tidbits. Not wanting to be relegated to "an obscure corner marked math," he offers How to Figure It as a self-help book, an "enabler." He delivers many practical ways to bring figures and measurements into the lives of those for whom math has always been a dirty word. About a quarter of the book is devoted to money, with chapters on interest and saving, investing, spending, and home loans. Another large chunk covers residences and features house planning, how to figure steps for building things, and an entire chapter focused on rafters and beams. Huff also includes chapters on automobiles, travel, outdoors, and how to do math in a hurry. With this book as guide, you can evaluate the warmth of a sleeping bag, analyze the need for pedestrian crossings, and rate an earthquake--all assisted by handy charts and tables. This makes an ideal browser on a rainy afternoon, and it is especially friendly to those who can't quite cope with calculators. Jennifer Henderson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 488 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393319245
• ISBN-13: 978-0393319248
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyday Problems Answered., July 20, 2000

By 

"jagwire" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete How to Figure It: Using Math in Everyday Life (Paperback)

This is not a math book, rather its an answer book that describes how to solve those "everyday" questions we tend to have. The usefullness of this book (especially about it's plain english way of describing money issues) is truly astounding.

This book discusses in easy to read "plain english" how to solve mortage and loan problems, as well as a large collection of general interest problems for the "typical" homeowner.

This is a fantastic book with at least a hundred different problems solved (everything from the true worth of college, to answering annuity questions). I recommend this for anyone who wants to know "How to figure it".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I PUT OFF BUYING THIS, August 14, 2000

By 

William Meisel (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete How to Figure It: Using Math in Everyday Life (Paperback)

because I teach math and I thought "Oh, there won't be anything in this book that I don't already know." WRONG! THis book is a browser's delight. As well as giving relatively clear directions on how to calculate a whole bunch of practical things, it gives away such secrets as how to do those annoying work word problems using only arithmetic, an easy way to do those annoying mixture word problems, how to weigh things using only nickels, the amazing relationship between nickels and the metric system,etc. Highly recommended.

2 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars there are better, August 27, 2000

By 

newton fisher - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete How to Figure It: Using Math in Everyday Life (Paperback)

The author tries to be a wit ... rather he is really painful. Other times he goes off into blissful lotus lands and at almost every opportunity appears to be attempting to write confusing word problems for an advanced algebra class of left over from an earlier time wild eyed hippies ... I mean if you are in a commune which has dedicated itself to solar heat and raising organic apples .. here is your book ... but for me more formulae and less of the cutesy stuff. Not hopeless just not 'real' useful.