Leila Schneps's guest appearances

Leila Schneps

New Books in Law

New Books in Mathematics

Inspired by Math!

New Books Network

Coralie Colmez

Phillipa Chong

K. Linder

Al Cuoco

Alfred Posamentier

J. Neuhaus

Sue VanHattum

Lance Fortnow

Brian Greene

Colm Mulcahy

Leslie M. Harris

Tim Chartier

Ian Stewart

Chuck Adler

David Reimer

OwlTail

I interview the mother-daughter team who authored "Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Courtroom." We talk about inspiration for writing the book, flaws in mathematical thinking, how justice is derailed by bad math in the courtroom, a number of examples of cases from the book, and more.

Leila Schneps & Coralie Colmez - Inspired by Math #26

You may well have seen “Numb3rs,” a TV show in which mathematicians help solve crimes. It’s fiction. But, as Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez show in their eye-opening new book Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Court Room (Basic Books, 2013) math does play a role in criminal prosecution. Alas, it’s often bad math and, as such, often leads to bad outcomes: people get off who shouldn’t and others get convicted who shouldn’t. Schneps and Colmez show how math has been misused in ten interesting (and disturbing) cases. In some instances the errors are trivial; in others rather complex. But they all add up (excuse the pun) to injustice. Listen in and find out how and why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/mathematics

You may well have seen “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numb3rs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Numb3rs</a>,” a TV show in which mathematicians help solve crimes. It’s fiction. But, as <a href="http://www.math.jussieu.fr/~leila/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leila Schneps</a> and <a href="http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/authors/coralie-colmez" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coralie Colmez</a> show in their eye-opening new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0465032923/?tag=newbooinhis-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Court Room</a> (Basic Books, 2013) math does play a role in criminal prosecution. Alas, it’s often bad math and, as such, often leads to bad outcomes: people get off who shouldn’t and others get convicted who shouldn’t. Schneps and Colmez show how math has been misused in ten interesting (and disturbing) cases. In some instances the errors are trivial; in others rather complex. But they all add up (excuse the pun) to injustice. Listen in and find out how and why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>Support our show by becoming a premium member! <a href="https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/mathematics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/mathematics</a>

Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez, “Math on Trial” (Basic Books, 2013)

You may well have seen “Numb3rs,” a TV show in which mathematicians help solve crimes. It’s fiction. But, as Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez show in their eye-opening new book Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Court Room (Basic Books, 2013) math does play a role in criminal prosecution. Alas, it’s often bad math and, as such, often leads to bad outcomes: people get off who shouldn’t and others get convicted who shouldn’t. Schneps and Colmez show how math has been misused in ten interesting (and disturbing) cases. In some instances the errors are trivial; in others rather complex. But they all add up (excuse the pun) to injustice. Listen in and find out how and why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

You may well have seen “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numb3rs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Numb3rs</a>,” a TV show in which mathematicians help solve crimes. It’s fiction. But, as <a href="http://www.math.jussieu.fr/~leila/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leila Schneps</a> and <a href="http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/authors/coralie-colmez" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coralie Colmez</a> show in their eye-opening new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0465032923/?tag=newbooinhis-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Court Room</a> (Basic Books, 2013) math does play a role in criminal prosecution. Alas, it’s often bad math and, as such, often leads to bad outcomes: people get off who shouldn’t and others get convicted who shouldn’t. Schneps and Colmez show how math has been misused in ten interesting (and disturbing) cases. In some instances the errors are trivial; in others rather complex. But they all add up (excuse the pun) to injustice. Listen in and find out how and why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>Support our show by becoming a premium member! <a href="https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law</a>