Mathematics and Sex
Mathematics and Sex
The book is fairly bland but the topics it covers are are pretty interesting. If you are into by analytical approach to anything and are interested in human relationships - it is worth a read.
The author basically describes various mathematical papers of last 30 years that can be used to describe male-female interactions. She does not delve deeply into mathematics aside from showing a few formulas here and there. I've seen probably half of the issues in the book before - from the princess selecting from 1000 suitors (also known as the secretary problem), to the medical schools matching up with residents algorithm, but it's good to see them covered again. For example she quotes some study that finds that people should date 12 individuals and then marry the first subsequent one that is more compatible with them than any of the 12. Silly - perhaps, but worth thinking about. For me it answered the quandary I had for years - why americans tend to date people until a certain age (27-29) and then marry the very first person they meet - i.e. be unwilling to marry anybody they meet, no matter how compatible they are, until they are old enough to marry. The analysis she presented explained it.
I like the Gladwellian / 'freakonomics' approach to things and therefore tend to enjoy books of this nature. Unfortunately this one is on the bottom end of the genre.
Книга есть в pdf, могу поделиться.