Is That a Big Number?

COVER......Page 1
IS THAT A BIG NUMBER?......Page 4
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
BEWILDERED BY BIG NUMBERS?......Page 6
DEDICATION......Page 8
CONTENTS......Page 10
Introduction......Page 12
The world is chaotic......Page 13
Numbers count......Page 14
Developing number sense......Page 15
Everything connects......Page 16
For your numerical delight......Page 17
Random alignments......Page 18
The First Technique: Landmark Numbers—When You’re Lost, Look for Landmarks......Page 19
PART 1 COUNTING NUMBERS......Page 22
Counting up......Page 24
What does it mean to count?......Page 25
Counting (like) crows......Page 26
Counting is singing......Page 28
Feynman can count and read; Tukey can count and talk......Page 29
Singing is counting......Page 31
Keeping tallies......Page 32
How big is Yankee Stadium?......Page 33
How many fish in the sea?......Page 36
How many stars in the sky?......Page 37
How big is a billion?......Page 38
The age-old question: How strong is the beer?......Page 41
It’s not mathematics......Page 42
Folk numeracy versus scientific numeracy......Page 43
We’re innumerate, but literate......Page 44
Why do words matter?......Page 47
Words embracing numbers......Page 48
Scientific notation......Page 49
Where do the big numbers start?......Page 50
Firm ground......Page 51
Exposure to big numbers......Page 52
Visualising a thousand......Page 53
Powers of a thousand in language......Page 54
All roads lead to a thousand......Page 55
Precision......Page 56
How big is a billion?......Page 57
How many tennis balls does it take to fill St Paul’s?......Page 59
PART 2 MEASURING UP......Page 62
What it means to measure......Page 64
The Long and the Short and the Tall......Page 67
Made to measure......Page 68
Out and about......Page 70
Metre for measure......Page 71
Measuring the things around us......Page 72
Sports: heights......Page 73
Sports: distances......Page 74
How big is a football field?......Page 75
How far can you throw that thing?......Page 77
Sports: equipment......Page 78
Buildings and other structures......Page 79
Routes and roads......Page 81
Crossing continents......Page 82
Rivers......Page 84
The Lego world......Page 85
How far is 1000 km?......Page 86
How high is 100 metres?......Page 88
The Third Technique: Divide and Conquer—Take One Bite at a Time......Page 90
Distributing the load......Page 92
Pick your units and your multiples......Page 93
The wheels of time......Page 94
Time is change......Page 95
Giving the time of day......Page 96
It’s that time of year......Page 99
Some things just won’t fit......Page 100
Turning years into numbers......Page 102
Measuring prehistory......Page 103
Time and technology......Page 104
The far future......Page 105
What happened a thousand years ago? A number ladder for time......Page 106
Geological time by the numbers......Page 108
The evolution of Homo sapiens......Page 112
The big migration......Page 115
Technological landmarks......Page 116
Ancient history by the numbers......Page 117
5000 years and more ago (3000 bce and before)......Page 118
4000–3000 years ago (2000 bce to 1000 bce)......Page 119
3000–2500 years ago (1000 bce to 500 bce)......Page 121
2500–2000 years ago (500 bce to 1 bce)......Page 122
2000–1500 years ago (1 ce to 500 ce)......Page 124
1500–1000 years ago (500 ce to 1000 ce)......Page 126
Them!......Page 128
Covering the ground......Page 129
Speaking (of) volumes......Page 130
No need to fear the giant ants......Page 131
String theory......Page 132
Tell her to find me an acre of land......Page 133
Making land metric......Page 134
City sizes......Page 135
How big is a country, typically?......Page 136
Measuring continents and large islands......Page 138
Roll out the barrel......Page 140
Oil, by the barrel or by the tankerful......Page 141
Dry goods......Page 142
It’s a hard rain a-gonna fall......Page 143
The Fourth Technique: Rates and Ratios—Knock ’Em Down to Size......Page 146
Per capita......Page 147
Growth rates......Page 148
The weight(s) of history......Page 150
From grain to gram......Page 152
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother......Page 153
Everyday masses......Page 154
How heavy was King Kong?......Page 155
Other creatures, great and small......Page 157
Sink or swim?......Page 158
In good spirits......Page 159
Why did Archimedes leave his bath?......Page 161
1000 kg to 1 million kg (1 ton to 1000 tons)......Page 162
More than 1 million kg (more than 1000 tons)......Page 163
Blue Riband......Page 166
Measuring speed......Page 167
Going like the wind......Page 168
Speed limits......Page 170
Blue Birds, Bluebirds, and Bloodhounds......Page 171
Terminal velocity......Page 172
Faster and faster......Page 173
Warp speed and beyond......Page 175
INTERMISSION TIME TO REVIEW AND REFLECT......Page 178
Number spotting......Page 180
Benford’s law put to the test......Page 181
Distribution of magnitude between 1 and 1000......Page 183
Stand up and stretch your legs......Page 185
Breaking the number line......Page 187
Moore’s law......Page 189
the richter scale......Page 191
Ebony and ivory......Page 193
Log books and slide rules......Page 196
Mortality......Page 198
A much, much briefer history of time......Page 200
PART 3 THE NUMBERS OF SCIENCE......Page 202
Numbers for the sake of knowledge......Page 204
How high the Moon?......Page 206
Neighbourhood watch......Page 208
Light-years......Page 212
Interstellar......Page 213
Orders of magnitude......Page 214
News from deep space......Page 215
The size of everything (well, everything we can see)......Page 216
How far is a billion kilometres?......Page 217
How do you weigh a planet?......Page 220
Masses of the planets and Sun......Page 221
The dance of the Earth and the Moon......Page 222
Astronomical densities......Page 223
Confused and confusing......Page 225
Early measurement of energy......Page 226
How big is a joule?......Page 227
Energy in foods......Page 228
Energy in fuels......Page 229
What’s your energy consumption?......Page 230
Temperature......Page 231
Big and small bangs......Page 234
Energy number ladder......Page 235
Rosetta......Page 237
Information......Page 239
Measuring information......Page 240
Numbers and computer memory......Page 243
Making every word count......Page 245
Codes and redundancy......Page 246
Encoding the Bible......Page 247
Is a picture worth a thousand words?......Page 248
Big data centres......Page 249
Mathematically big numbers......Page 251
Combinatorics......Page 252
How hard is that problem?......Page 253
Who’d be a travelling salesman?......Page 255
What is a number anyway?......Page 258
What about Graham’s number?......Page 259
What about infinity?......Page 260
PART 4 NUMBERS IN PUBLIC LIFE......Page 262
The bones of the world......Page 264
Global numbers......Page 266
Tallysticks and stockholders......Page 268
What’s that in Old Money?......Page 269
Currencies: money’s wobbly yardsticks......Page 272
Interest and inflation......Page 273
Remember when a dollar was still a dollar?......Page 274
Measuring economies......Page 277
The Bluffer’s Guide to National Finances......Page 280
How much do we earn?......Page 281
How much does the government take in tax?......Page 282
What’s the balance?......Page 283
How much does that cost us?......Page 284
Another look at GDP......Page 285
Yet another look at GDP......Page 286
Example: research spending......Page 287
Stand on Zanzibar: How crowded is the world?......Page 288
The rise and rise of Homo sapiens......Page 291
Human life expectancy......Page 293
Child mortality......Page 295
We’re not the only occupants of this planet......Page 296
Populations of species......Page 297
A (descending) number ladder of animal populations......Page 298
We’re the ones in charge here......Page 299
Measuring variation and inequality......Page 303
Is that a big country?......Page 307
Measuring inequality—the Gini index......Page 309
Quality of life: Millennium Development Goals......Page 310
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger......Page 311
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality......Page 312
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases......Page 313
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability......Page 314
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development......Page 315
How does the overall achievement measure up?......Page 316
Quality of life: Human Development Index......Page 317
Quality of life: Happiness Index......Page 318
Numbers are natural......Page 321
Haven’t the number-crunching experts let us down?......Page 322
But the experts can’t even make up their minds!......Page 323
Knowledge is power......Page 324
Life is chaotic. But life is good......Page 325
Worthwhile web links......Page 328
Numbers in the World......Page 329
References......Page 330
Massive Numbers......Page 331
Worthwhile web links......Page 332
Worthwhile web links......Page 333
Worthwhile web links......Page 334
Worthwhile web links......Page 335
Measuring How We Live......Page 336
Worthwhile sources of numbers......Page 337
Acknowledgements......Page 338
Index......Page 339