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How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything |  | Author: Aaron Santos
Publisher: Running Press
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.00
as of 11/24/2009 07:35 CST details
You Save: $6.95 (46%)
New (29) Used (12) from $5.94
Seller: khentertainment
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 12571
Media: Paperback
Pages: 176
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0762435607
Dewey Decimal Number: 511
EAN: 9780762435609
ASIN: 0762435607
Publication Date: August 25, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? How many people are having sex at this moment? How long would it take a monkey on a typewriter to produce the plays of Shakespeare? For all those questions that keep you up at night, here’s the way to answer them. And the beauty of it is that it’s all approximate! Using Enrico Fermi’s theory of approximation, Santos brings the world of numbers into perspective. For puzzle junkies and trivia fanatics, these 70 word puzzles will show the reader how to take a bit of information, add what they already know, and extrapolate an answer. Santos has done the impossible: make math and the multiple possibilities of numbers fun and informative. Can you really cry a river? Is it possible to dig your way out of jail with just a teaspoon and before your life sentence is up? Taking an academic subject and using it as the prism to view everyday off-the-wall questions as math problems to be solved is a natural step for the lovers of sudoku, cryptograms, word puzzles, and other thought-provoking games.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Disappointing. November 15, 2009
Bryan R Taylor (Castro Valley, CA United States)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
First off let me say that the topics chosen as illustrative examples are hilarious. There is just the right mix of geekiness and human interest. That being said I had hoped to read more about what constitutes a reasonable assumption since I was already competent at dimensional analysis. This book is just a collection of entertaining examples.
In addition the Kindle edition has very poor proofreading. Several words are missing letters and these errors could have been caught simply by running a spelling check. I am disappointed.
 How many stars? 5 October 28, 2009
C. Charest
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book... Santos picked out great question, like how many Eucharists would equal one Jesus, and answers them in a way that is simple to understand and recreate. This book is a perfect match for anyone, either the family physicist, the high school student, or your aunt sally. I leave mine on the coffee table to bring out when there is company or a dull moment. It is great at making dimensional analysis easy and fun to understand.
get your Fermi on October 22, 2009
S. P. Robinson
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great book for learning the famous estimation techniques of intellectual giant Enrico Fermi. An absolute must for anyone trying to impersonate a physicist at cocktail parties.
Dual function design October 19, 2009
Eric Jankowski (Ann Arbor, MI)
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
This item has math in it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the book would properly cover my test, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the book under my arm and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the math in the book that I, like math, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a math book shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him.
I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my math book would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the math in my book, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you math book.
Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has math in it, attracts women
Cons: Only 1 book (could probably use a few more), cannot see math when closed, math would have been better if it glowed in the dark.
Makes math easy August 27, 2009
~*J*~ (VA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed how the book made math seem fun by answering silly questions. The author also broke down how to do the calculations and gave you the correct answer (just in case you couldn't get it). This is a must for anyone who likes to solve riddles/problems.
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