Math on trial. How numbers get used and abused in the courtroom (Q2842995)

On the cover you can read: ``In the wrong hands, math can be deadly. Even the simplest numbers can become powerful forces when manipulated by politicians or the media, but in the case of the law, your liberty -- and your life -- can depend on the right calculation.NEWLINENEWLINE In ``Math on trial'', mathematicians Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez describe ten trials spanning from the nineteenth century to today, in which mathematical arguments were used -- and disastrously misused -- as evidence. They tell the stories of Sally Clark, who was accused of murdering her children by a doctor with a faulty sense of calculation; of nineteenth-century tycoon Hetty Green, whose dispute over her aunt's will became a signal case in the forensic use of mathematics; and of the case of Amanda Knox, in which a judge's misunderstanding of probability led him to discount critical evidence -- which might have kept her in jail.NEWLINENEWLINE Offering a fresh angle on cases from the nineteenth-century Dreyfus affair to the murder trial of Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk, Schneps and Colmez show how the improper application of mathematical concepts can mean the difference between walking free and life in prison.NEWLINENEWLINE A colorful narrative of mathematical abuse, ``Math on trial'' blends courtroom drama, history, and math to show that legal expertise isn't always enough to prove a person innocent.''NEWLINENEWLINE The authors clever use of headline-grabbing case studies and digestible explanations of mathematical problems combine to argue for the careful use of numbers by advocates and lay juries alike. The book vividly shows how the desire for `scientific' certainty can lead even well-meaning courts to commit grave injustice. All of the mathematical errors presented in this book pertain to the field of probability and statistics. The mathematical analysis mostly involves words, logic, tables and some simple calculations; clear theoretical formulas are generally absent.NEWLINENEWLINE Reviewer's remark: On p. 190, there is an error in the calculation: If you roll a die 6 times and you will get here 3 times a 6, then the exact probability is the binomial probability \({6\choose 3}({1\over 6})^3 ({5\over 6})^3\approx 0.0536\).NEWLINENEWLINE The examples and the careful reasoning presented in this book are fascinating. Read the book and you will not be disappointed.