Who's Counting?

Who’s Counting features selected columns from Paulos’ well-known ABC News series of the same name collected here in book form for the first time, along with updates and brand-new original essays from the author, to examine how better understanding data improves our thinking and decision-making. With examples from government, mass media, natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories, climate change, “fake news,” and popular culture, Paulos shows how mathematics and logic are, along with a humble respect for truth, our most basic and reliable guides to reality.

John Allen Paulos is an extensively praised author, popular public speaker, and former monthly columnist for ABCNews.com, the Scientific American, and the Guardian. Professor of math at Temple University in Philadelphia, he earned his Ph.D. in the subject from the University of Wisconsin.

He is the author, most recently, of A Numerate Life, as well as New York Times-bestseller Innumeracy, among many others. His papers on probability, logic, and the philosophy of science have appeared in numerous academic journals and his articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Nation, Discover, the American Scholar, and the London Review of Books. Paulos and has an extensive web and media presence, especially on Twitter @johnallenpaulos.