How can we solve the national debt crisis?  - Should you or your child take on a student loan?  - Is it safe to talk on a cell phone while driving?  - Are there viable energy alternatives to fossil fuels?  - Could simple policy changes reduce political polarization?  These questions may all seem very different, but they share two things in common. First, they are all questions with important implications for either personal success or our success as a nation. Second, they all concern topics that we can fully understand only with the aid of clear quantitative or mathematical thinking. In other words, they are topics for which we need math for life --a kind of math that looks quite different from most of the math that we learn in school, but that is just as (and often more) important.      In Math for Life , award-winning author Jeffrey Bennett simply and clearly explains the key ideas of quantitative reasoning and applies them to all the above questions and many more. He also uses these questions to analyze our current education system, identifying both shortfalls in the teaching of mathematics and solutions for our educational future.      No matter what your own level of mathematical ability, and no matter whether you approach the book as an educator, student, or interested adult, you are sure to find something new and thought-provoking in Math for Life . Winner -- 2012 Colorado Book Award (Best General Nonfiction Book) An insightful look at the crucial role mathematics plays in today's society, [written with a] pleasant, conversational style... Any reader, but especially parents, politicians, and professional educators, would benefit from reading this book. Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. -- Choice Magazine (Sept. 2012) Jeffrey Bennett served as the first director of the program in Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Skills at the University of Colorado, where he developed the groundbreaking curriculum that became the basis of his best-selling college textbook in mathematics. He holds a PhD in astrophysics and is also the lead author of top-selling college textbooks in statistical reasoning, astronomy, and astrobiology. Math for Life is his third book for the general public, following the critically acclaimed On the Cosmic Horizon and Beyond UFOs . He is also the author of award-winning children s books about science, including Max Goes to the Moon , Max Goes to Mars , Max Goes to Jupiter , and The Wizard Who Saved the World . Used Book in Good Condition