How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything [Paperback]

Aaron Santos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2009

How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? How many people are having sex at this moment? How long would it take a monkey on a typewriter to produce the plays of Shakespeare? For all those questions that keep you up at night, here’s the way to answer them. And the beauty of it is that it’s all approximate!

Using Enrico Fermi’s theory of approximation, Santos brings the world of numbers into perspective. For puzzle junkies and trivia fanatics, these 70 word puzzles will show the reader how to take a bit of information, add what they already know, and extrapolate an answer.

Santos has done the impossible: make math and the multiple possibilities of numbers fun and informative. Can you really cry a river? Is it possible to dig your way out of jail with just a teaspoon and before your life sentence is up?

Taking an academic subject and using it as the prism to view everyday off-the-wall questions as math problems to be solved is a natural step for the lovers of sudoku, cryptograms, word puzzles, and other thought-provoking games.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Danica McKellar, actress and author of Math Doesn’t Suck and Kiss My Math
“Never before have I seen a book that could so effectively prepare a person to create their own depository of party trivia while brushing up on math skills. Nice!”

American Profile, October 4, 2009

“No matter how you feel about math, Santos' puzzle-solving prowess shows you just how much you can do when you put on your thinking cap.”

Review

Danica McKellar, actress and author of Math Doesn’t Suck and Kiss My Math
“Never before have I seen a book that could so effectively prepare a person to create their own depository of party trivia while brushing up on math skills. Nice!”

American Profile, October 4, 2009

“No matter how you feel about math, Santos' puzzle-solving prowess shows you just how much you can do when you put on your thinking cap.”

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762435607
• ISBN-13: 978-0762435609
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #469,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. November 15, 2009

By Bryan R Taylor

Format:Kindle Edition

First off let me say that the topics chosen as illustrative examples are hilarious. There is just the right mix of geekiness and human interest. That being said I had hoped to read more about what constitutes a reasonable assumption since I was already competent at dimensional analysis. This book is just a collection of entertaining examples.

In addition the Kindle edition has very poor proofreading. Several words are missing letters and these errors could have been caught simply by running a spelling check. I am disappointed.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars How to: Take a guess, or use common sense! December 13, 2009

By Ahmed J. Aldoseri

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I ordered this book, but I must admit that the clincher (for me, anyway) was the set of example questions listed on the product description - you have to admit, they were funny and intriguing.

Having read the book, I don't think I'm much better at "estimating damn near anything". In the first chapter, the book gives you some advice on how to start addressing a question - any question of approximation - and the rest of the book provides many exercises.

The gist of advice on approximating anything is: take a guess! How many dirt bike racers are in New York? Well, round up the total population of New York, apply exponential notation, decide on a reasonable maximum and minimum possible number of racers, etc.

Of course, there are some questions within the book that require knowledge of specific values, such as the elasticity of rubber, the pull of gravity, and the distance between the Earth and the Moon. For these questions you'll find the values at the back of the book. For other such values in real life just hope you paid attention in school.

There is no secret art in guesstimating anything - either take an educated guess or use some degree of common sense. I was hoping for something new to take away from this book, but found very little.

The sample problems presented in the book are great, though, and it has a very good format.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars get your Fermi on October 22, 2009

By S. P. Robinson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Great book for learning the famous estimation techniques of intellectual giant Enrico Fermi. An absolute must for anyone trying to impersonate a physicist at cocktail parties.