Customer Reviews

The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS: Solving Crime with Mathematics

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you watch the TV show Numbers, you'll enjoy reading this book. If you read this book, you'll enjoy watching the TV show.

My wife, who hates math (and is admittedly very poor at it), and I, who love math, both started watching this show from the first episode. She enjoys the show as much as I do. This book, which uses some of the episodes from the show for illustration, does a very fine job of discussing some of the mathematics used on the show. But it does more than that. It discusses the mathematics used by real law enforcement, the CIA, NSA, FBI, courts, etc.

I think one of the strengths of this book is that it corrects a misunderstanding about mathematics, which is that mathematics is identical to arithmetic. Or another misunderstanding, which is that math uses just numbers. Math is much more than that; it's more than algebra or geometry or even calculus. This book discusses a few of these additional areas, such as graph theory, geographic profiling, and Bayesian inference. It has just enough math to be interesting to the wannabe mathematician (like me) and enough good explanations and analogies to be interesting to everyone.

I'm a huge fan of the tv series, and I wanted to find out more behind the formulas and models used on the show. What I realized is that I'm not as mathematically savvy as I could be, and that the show is very good at applying very complex models to real life, layperson situations.

The book does a very good job at breaking down the theory and explanation, and also explains that the mathematics is intended to address probability and statistical analysis, not to solve the problem. This, I believe, is the key to enjoying both the book and the show.

A great supplement to the show.

I started watching Numb3rs after reading this book. Actually the book helped appreciating the show since the show itself does not clarify many of the techniques they use and most of the time we just have to trust the show. In that sense this book acts as a companion book to the show itself. But it does more than that. The chapter on network analysis was particularly interesting and the discussion on misplaced degrees of separation a good one. The authors make a very readable text even for non-mathematicians.But authors try to cover too many sub fields of applied mathematics in this small book. The depth of the book suffers because these ambitions selections.

I loved this book. Although I am not a mathematical person, I have watched the show since it started. the book really show you what math can do in the real world and is understandable and extremely interesting for non math types like me.

Well written, interesting, and informative - this book provides a good balance between education and entertainment. By explaining the concepts behind the episodes of the television series Numb3rs, it spurs the reader to further exploration of the wonderous world of mathematics.

This book is an excellent resource to help show the successes and failures of applied mathematics in forensic science. I plan to use this book as a resource to show students that mathematics has a very practical side.

Mathematics is being used more and more frequently in solving crimes. In this book, Keith Devlin and Gary Lorden examine many of the crime-solving techniques shown in the CBS crime series "Numb3rs".

The authors show how statistics, neural networks, DNA profiling, and game theory are used to combat murder, terrorism, and credit card fraud. The book shows how mathematics applies to fingerprint evidence, and looks at how math is used in the courtroom and in casino gambling.

The appendix to this volume consists of the plot synopses of each episode of the first three seasons of "Numb3rs", and the book is a great complement to the television series while being mostly comprehensible to the general reader.

Being a person who is utterly obsessed with the show NUMB3RS, I really wanted to love the book as well. But the text and math of the book was written in a somewhat dull way and was hard too get through. I experienced what I call the 'textbook eye glaze'- when you read something and then have no idea what you just read. One good factor of the book, however, is that it had many examples from NUMB3RS as well as other cases. I personaly found it easier to follow the NUMB3RS cases because I'd already see Charlie give a general idea of that math. If you're looking for a mildly entertaining textbook, pick this up. But if you want something more like reading an episode of the show NUMB3RS, you're out of luck.

This book gives a very readable and high-level explanation of some of the mathematics and computer science used in the plotlines of Numb3rs. You will read an introduction to geographic profiling, Rossmo's formula, statistics (hypothesis testing, statistics usage in the courtroom, and bias), data mining (link analysis, geometric clustering, software agents, machine learning, and neural networks), face recognition, changepoint detection, image reconstruction and image enhancement, Bayes method, DNA profiling, cryptography, fingerprint matching, graph theory and networks, risk assessment (cargo and passenger screening), the math in analyzing witness testimony, detecting forgery, and jury selection, and the math behind gambling and casino games. The appendix contains plot summaries from seasons 1-3.

I majored in math in college so I found this book quite interesting. I also am a fan of the show itself. It's a little technical at times but over all a good read for someone who is fascinated by modern crime solving techniques where math plays an increasingly useful role. Recommended for sleuth hounds.