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· 2,376 ratings · 319 reviews

Start your review of The Mathematics of Love: Patterns, Proofs, and the Search for the Ultimate Equation

Aug 08, 2020 Keyo Çalî rated it it was amazing

How can I increase my chances of finding a partner like Hannah Fry?! (She is amazing)

don't expect this to be a book like Erich From's The Art of Loving
it is about Mathematics of love
Mathematics is the language of the universe!
and yes, in theory, you can define what is love and how to solve its problems using only math.
however practically, you can only implement math to situations that their data is achievable.

Hannah Fry created an entertaining and at the same time thoughtful page-turner.
She sai

How can I increase my chances of finding a partner like Hannah Fry?! (She is amazing)

Hannah Fry created an entertaining and at the same time thoughtful page-turner.
She said something very beautiful for the introduction "My great hope is that a little bit of insight into the mathematics of love might just inspire you to have a little bit more love for mathematics."
I think this is enough to explain the main purpose of the book.

Contents:
chapter 1: what are the chances of finding love?
chapter 2: how important is beauty?
chapter 3: how to maximize a night on the town?
chapter 4: online dating
chapter 5: the dating game
chapter 6: the maths of sex
chapter 7: when should you settle down?
chapter 8: how to optimize your wedding?
chapter 9: how to live happily ever after?

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Dec 03, 2016 Claudia rated it it was ok

More funny than useful, but it has some interesting views on the matter.
In case you need a smile today, here are some potential triggers:

[…] This man had set up a profile on the dating website OkCupid, which offers a profile section where you can outline certain 'deal-breakers': things that you can't tolerate under any circumstances. His list ran to over a hundred, and was so extreme that it became the subject of a popular article on the website BuzzFeed. Under the heading 'Do Not Message Me If'

More funny than useful, but it has some interesting views on the matter.
In case you need a smile today, here are some potential triggers:

1. You needlessly kill spiders

(checked)
2. You have tattoos you can't see without a mirror (checked)
3. You discuss Facebook in the visceral world
4. You consider yourself a happy person (checked)
5. You think world peace is actually a goal of some sort (checked)
(Oh well, that explains so many things…)

So all we're really doing when picking a guy with a strong jaw, or a woman with beautiful plump lips, is giving in to our evolutionary desire for offspring. That's why women wear lipstick. (Really?! Now I know why I'm not wearing one...)

Many things can happen when two people have sex for the first time: the start of a new life, the start of a new infection, intense mutual embarrassment and even, occasionally, pleasure.

Enjoy!

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Jan 29, 2017 Anima rated it it was amazing

"What I am, however, is a mathematician. And in my day job of teasing out and understanding the patterns in human behavior, I've come to realize that mathematics can offer a new way of looking at almost anything—even something as mysterious as love."
"I wanted to write this book because I'm always a bit disappointed with the way that math is viewed so negatively by the general public, even if I'm not surprised that it has such a bad reputation."
"To try to convince you of how insightful, relevant, "What I am, however, is a mathematician. And in my day job of teasing out and understanding the patterns in human behavior, I've come to realize that mathematics can offer a new way of looking at almost anything—even something as mysterious as love."
"I wanted to write this book because I'm always a bit disappointed with the way that math is viewed so negatively by the general public, even if I'm not surprised that it has such a bad reputation."
"To try to convince you of how insightful, relevant, and powerful mathematics can be, I've deliberately tried to choose the one subject that seems as far away from equations and proofs as possible and show how—even in that context—math still has something to offer. I want to share with you my favorite—mathematically verifiable—ways of understanding how love can work." ...more

Feb 28, 2015 Nina rated it liked it

It's a read in one sitting book. I liked it but was looking for something more profound. More cute than revelatory. It's a read in one sitting book. I liked it but was looking for something more profound. More cute than revelatory. ...more

Being physicist and working as a mathematician, I was really trying to not using my math brain (80% of my thoughts, memories, and intuition) for analysis of my relation and love. It was in the stress of I do so, I will become more robot I already am, and my math-driven life will collapse to a mad scientist we all warned about. But reading this book gives me a different side, as far as I was 100% familiar with the theories, I find my freedom and chooses should start after the Math-driven decision Being physicist and working as a mathematician, I was really trying to not using my math brain (80% of my thoughts, memories, and intuition) for analysis of my relation and love. It was in the stress of I do so, I will become more robot I already am, and my math-driven life will collapse to a mad scientist we all warned about. But reading this book gives me a different side, as far as I was 100% familiar with the theories, I find my freedom and chooses should start after the Math-driven decision or at least quantified to not get out of control. It is fun to read and fun to follow. I may write a general application later base on this book to come up with visualization or toolkit which can do the math algorithmically. ...more

It's been a remarkably long time since I sat down and even have begun to think of why or how I would review a book, but here I am. It's good that I am for this one, too, because this work of Hannah Fry's is awesome. (I could stop here, but I won't, as I'll have to give some evidence as to why this work is awesome. Also, yes, I'm using the word awesome deliberately. I promise.)

Where to begin? This work is a great addition to her TED talk about the mathematics of love, which is also fantastic bec

Where to begin? This work is a great addition to her TED talk about the mathematics of love, which is also fantastic because there are different points of emphasis in the talk as there are here, but you could consider it an introduction or preface to the book! The talk itself introduces much of what is in the book as well. (I won't go into great detail about what is in the book, but it involves mathematics and love 🤔)

This book makes some mathematical subject matter more accessible to a wide audience (myself included, because I am not a mathematician) and it is presented in an entertaining manner. While I'm certain that maybe I'm overlooking certain specific aspects of things, I'm not embittered because I don't hold specific texts to an unreasonably high standard or give ratings based upon what I like, but rather is it good within the context of what it's talking about and in the manner it's presented in? In this case it's a resounding "yes!"

I was entertained, it was easy to read, and I found myself looking certain interesting pieces up on the internet that were mentioned throughout. (: well done.

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The only problem i have with this books is that it's too short!
Absolutely loved this from the start to the finish.
I was inspired to buy this after listening to Hannah's TEd talk here and also some other videos featuring her in this math-youtube channel I subscribe to called numberphile

I was expecting to see her deliver these nuggets of math wisdom in her witty and humorous style in the book (as she does in her videos) and boy did she deliver!

The book mainly deals with the traditional concept of

I was expecting to see her deliver these nuggets of math wisdom in her witty and humorous style in the book (as she does in her videos) and boy did she deliver!

The book mainly deals with the traditional concept of 'love' and everything that goes into/comes along with it and how although it may seem chemical or intuitive, most things we feel are in fact governed my math principles: It could be compatibility score calculation in online dating websites, approaching someone at a bar using Nash Equilibrium, using General Algebraic Modelling Systems to determine, how many people should you send wedding invitations to, to name a few.

While I admit the book is not a sort of 'tell-all' that will give you a step-by-step algorithm on HOW to actually go about having a happily ever after (to be honest, this is a little bit what I was hoping for, myself), it does reveal a lot about human nature and how in spite of all the chaos and randomness, love indeed follows a few predictable patterns, that the author has managed to tease out using mathematical tools.
This is similar to another book i loved: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (a book about behavioral economics),
but Hannah's narration and the fact that she doesn't shy away from mentioning some of HER dating disasters as well, is what won me over.

I do wish there was a bit more actual math involved and we actually get down to the nitty-gritty of it, but I guess I would have to read Dr. Hannah's scientific papers for that. But this also means you need not have a STEM degree to pick this one up, although if you DO have one, i believe you would enjoy this just a little bit more. (Something like A Brief History of Time)

Overall, this book gave me the feeling that this was a dinner coversation with Dr. Hannah Fry, and me - the forever alone single friend pouring out my woes - and the gentle eyed, red haired Dr, pretty much giving me the 'there are many fish in the sea' speech, except she has mathematically backed proofs which she is silently dumbing down for me (but in a nice way, not a condescending way).

Well, a girl can dream!

5 stars.

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Aug 29, 2015 Alireza rated it it was amazing

The author's tendency to push problems through a mathematical framework resonates with my passion, and thus, I immensely enjoyed pondering about the implications of the algorithms that I was already familiar with. This book is highly recommended to computer scientists who wish to find a new way to love their career. The author's tendency to push problems through a mathematical framework resonates with my passion, and thus, I immensely enjoyed pondering about the implications of the algorithms that I was already familiar with. This book is highly recommended to computer scientists who wish to find a new way to love their career. ...more

May 03, 2016 Rita rated it it was amazing

I listened to the whole book on CD on a 3 hour car ride. It was entertaining, human, easy to understand, and enlightening. Some chapters were stronger than others, but very glad I picked it up at the library.

May 29, 2018 Azita Rassi rated it really liked it

Quirky and interesting. I'm going to watch her Ted Talk on YouTube next. I'd heard parts of this book on Ted Radio Hour podcast as well, but the way the whole book is organized lends the matter additional charm.

First TED book I have read and will try to hunt down more. This is basically Hannah's TED talk, but the book goes into more detail. A funny and interesting read. First TED book I have read and will try to hunt down more. This is basically Hannah's TED talk, but the book goes into more detail. A funny and interesting read. ...more

Boyz! Someday I topped the mountain of fascination to mathematics by the tender age that wonder can work. By now the mountain appeared up in the sky so large that I'm on the landing point. Not for the love of mathematics but for the love it can be a short guide to geeks—a lifelong planning course though; what demands more elaborations for sure!
This love is that "love" boys! Primitive— what we all really want to mean, the "heart" that never beat but we think so it does. In the social world not t Boyz! Someday I topped the mountain of fascination to mathematics by the tender age that wonder can work. By now the mountain appeared up in the sky so large that I'm on the landing point. Not for the love of mathematics but for the love it can be a short guide to geeks—a lifelong planning course though; what demands more elaborations for sure!
This love is that "love" boys! Primitive— what we all really want to mean, the "heart" that never beat but we think so it does. In the social world not to be criticized and to do criticize we enlarge the meaning of love. It's the knock of the race surviving.
One thing in this book missing is there's no rough sheet to keep your experiment data down. It's a book of tutorial too— a bit joke. Seriously! :P
Anybody can try figuring out. Cause, Lady writer wrote this for the gents!
My next target is then— Act like a lady, think like a man (Steve Harvey). This one might be seeing yourself outside the box (from the view of girls).
A lot of geek days to cover and over. ...more

Feb 15, 2018 Q.T. Pi rated it liked it

I didn't necessarily find this book helpful but that's unfair to the book since I wasn't exactly looking or expecting it to help me. What I did find was a thoroughly entertaining non-fiction read that attempted to quantify something most people consider to be a gut feeling: Love. Now the whole book was not about finding the one. Though it did touch on the mathematics on how to improve one's odds to 37% by rejecting the right amount of people by a certain age.

The comparison of popularity on soci

The comparison of popularity on social media to sex partners and using that sort of analysis to statistically trace the spread of STD was interesting and logical.

The section on marriage lost me.

Using Game theory to pick up women was kinda funny. it looked at men and women as two competing sides and men had to impress a woman with gifts, but the gifts had to include the man or else the woman could just take the gifts and move on. So rather than buying her jewelry, which she could snatch and never talk to the man again, it would be best to take her on vacation, or out to dinner.

My favorite part of the book was when it covered John Nash. I am familiar with Nash Equilibrium, but I obviously first recognized the name from the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind when Russell Crowe strategized with his friends on picking up women. They couldn't all compete for the same woman because they would get in each other's way and then they would be rejected by her friends because no one wants to be a second choice. Here's the clip.

I would recommend anyone who wants to see something they here about on a daily basis in a different light to see if their library has a copy of this book they can check out. I wouldn't recommend buying the book though unless applying statistics to everyday life is your passion.

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My second free Blinkist audiobook summary. To celebrate Valentine's day, they offered up a book exploring the mathematics of love, marriage, dating, sexually transmitted diseases and how many people to invite to your wedding. Fairly low-brow in places (if that's what you like) it has a tendency to assume that treating the search for a partner as a strategy to plan and follow is automatically the way to go - neither discussion of the Nash equilibrium, nor the section on game theory provided much My second free Blinkist audiobook summary. To celebrate Valentine's day, they offered up a book exploring the mathematics of love, marriage, dating, sexually transmitted diseases and how many people to invite to your wedding. Fairly low-brow in places (if that's what you like) it has a tendency to assume that treating the search for a partner as a strategy to plan and follow is automatically the way to go - neither discussion of the Nash equilibrium, nor the section on game theory provided much in the way of criticism. Also, the scientist discussed in the first section sounds like a right dick - no wonder he can't get a date! ...more

Apr 22, 2015 Trish rated it liked it

A light, short, occasionally interesting read - sort of like reading a popular science magazine article in a waiting room. Yet again, a book from a TED presenter where I think the TEDtalk was better ...

Mar 29, 2018 Rohit rated it liked it

This is not what I had expected after reading the very promising introduction. But I enjoyed the last two chapters, especially the second last chapter. I've applied similar strategy suggested by the author in planning a few events. No, not my wedding. Overall, it was a fun read. This is not what I had expected after reading the very promising introduction. But I enjoyed the last two chapters, especially the second last chapter. I've applied similar strategy suggested by the author in planning a few events. No, not my wedding. Overall, it was a fun read. ...more

Jan 28, 2017 Lydia rated it liked it

This is a fun book and a quick read with a few interesting perspectives, such as the chapters on networks (and how sexual diseases spread) and the algorithms behind dating websites.

Math and Hannah Fry are amazing together! All you need is to watch one of her talks and you'll love her forever!
I recommend this: Can Maths Predict the Future?

My hope is also to illuminate how beautiful and relevant maths is. I wanted to write this book because I'm always a bit disappointed with the way that math is viewed so negatively by the general public, even if I'm not surprised that it has such a bad reputation. Most people's only experience of mathematics is as their most hated subject a

Math and Hannah Fry are amazing together! All you need is to watch one of her talks and you'll love her forever!
I recommend this: Can Maths Predict the Future?

My hope is also to illuminate how beautiful and relevant maths is. I wanted to write this book because I'm always a bit disappointed with the way that math is viewed so negatively by the general public, even if I'm not surprised that it has such a bad reputation. Most people's only experience of mathematics is as their most hated subject at school: the topics seemed uninspiring, the ideas hadn't changed in hundreds of years and the answers were all written in the back of the textbook. It's no wonder some people think maths has nothing new to offer. But this just couldn't be further from the truth.

That's what she perfectly does in this book. ...more

Oct 28, 2019 Nada Majdy rated it it was amazing

Very witty, very entertaining (is it wierd that I find mathematics entertaining?) Also these mathematical models are proven quiet accurate or as close to accuracy as can be, and can be applied in a lot of things like work and friendships. Hannah Fry is just so charming and smart, I love her.

Apr 04, 2018 Mika rated it liked it

It gives you a foundation for the constructs it trying to explain. This book tried to pack inside as much as it possibly could. Because of that I couldn't keep up, while I was beginning to understand one concept, the book would move on to the next.

It is a short, quick read book. But I wished for something more.

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Dec 01, 2015 C rated it it was amazing

The author provides the mathematical insights into different aspects related to love. Equations are mentioned but I love the insights which help me to understand intuitively the principles being discussed. The writing is clear and humorous making the book a breeze to enjoy.

I think this book is more for my single friends, but I enjoyed it, especially the mathematics behind online dating services.

May 28, 2019 eri b.❀ rated it liked it

Mathematics is about abstracting away from reality, not about replicating it. And it offers real value in the process. By allowing yourself to view the world from an abstract perspective, you create a language that is uniquely able to capture and describe the patterns and mechanisms that would otherwise remain hidden.

I don't really know what I was looking for. Maybe a more technical version of Modern Romance (which I loved). I really liked Hannah Fry's Hello World: Being Human in the Age o

Mathematics is about abstracting away from reality, not about replicating it. And it offers real value in the process. By allowing yourself to view the world from an abstract perspective, you create a language that is uniquely able to capture and describe the patterns and mechanisms that would otherwise remain hidden.

I don't really know what I was looking for. Maybe a more technical version of Modern Romance (which I loved). I really liked Hannah Fry's Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms, and I was not disappointed by this one; just, it was out of my field and I couldn't appreciate it as much. Instead of trying to "explain" love like Modern Romance did, The Mathematics of Love took instead several equations and explained them using "love" examples. I can say they were very easy to understand and that requires some talent! I really, really liked the explanations of complex math, but I'm afraid I didn't enjoy as much the rest of the book; I found it lacking of the thing I expected the most, and that is the relationship between love and math. As I said, I don't think there's nothing inherently bad in this book, it just wasn't what I was expecting it to be.

What I loved and made me extra sure I'm now a Hannah Fry's fan for life, is her humour and perspective on life. Even if it was very sad not having useful math on same sex relationships, I liked that she had them into account and apologized on behalf of people that worked on the studies. I only hope to have mathematicians like her to work on capturing more aspects of reality in the future!

Overall, a nice book and a 10/10 recommendation if you're interested in math, especially if you are not an expert but still want to learn some fancy equations!

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Jun 03, 2016 Helen rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Adults and teens.

Recommended to Helen by: No-one.

This is an interesting book - a followup on a TED talk - that discusses the application of mathematical methods to analyzing data on human relationships.

The book is easy to read, despite introducing various equations and mathematical concepts that may be unfamiliar to the reader. The idea that math can make sense of seemingly irrational choices/behavior, further proving how endlessly useful math is, is actually an effective device to somehow humanize math itself, make it less daunting and more approachable, which was one of the purposes of the book. My own experience with math is that I passed the Regents in HS - but after that, I never studied the subject. The closest I came to studying math was a baby physics class I took in college to fulfill a science requirement for the English major I was pursuing, and despite dutifully memorizing the formulas, I was unable to plug info from word problems into the said formulas, and thus had to drop the class. Any abstraction, or cryptic symbolic denotation of information seems beyond my abilities. Years later, I took a class in C but that too was essentially a disaster. I still do not know why instructions or procedures that are not written in plain English seem to be a stumbling block. I don't hate math - I enjoy arithmetic calculations. But the shorthand of combining various concepts or numbers into symbols and then using other seemingly alien symbols to manipulate them, still is off-putting. The great thing about this book is that it takes a subject everyone is familiar with (thus everyone knows about, has direct experience with) and plugs data from studies into interesting equations and charts that make sense of the information. It's one tiny step in the direction of making math less mysterious - especially since the data consists of things or behavior we're all familiar with. The author also uses humor in the form of "randomly" selecting names of people/couples in her examples that refer back to pop culture figures, so you also get a few laughs of recognition, appreciating the joke, from reading the book.

It is a well-written, clearly presented book, which you can read in one sitting. The illustrations were also nice - graphic art representations that resemble simplified poster art of people in various stages of meeting and so forth, with more abstract symbols occasionally alongside - perhaps to visually associate that there probably is a mathematical "order" or pattern even to the seeming chaos of finding a significant other and so forth.

There's an interesting discussion of the simple algorithm the mathematicians who founded OkCupid use to determine compatibility and suggest dates. Of course, even with this, there's no way of knowing if the person you meet is anyone you might want to meet even if your tastes, political views, and so forth, are similar. She says that many who do marry these days met on an online dating site; on the other hand, the divorce rate seems unaffected by the rise of online dating and marriages resulting from it - the "enhanced compatibility" that's delivered by online dating, hasn't seen a drop in the divorce rate.

How to stay together, and who is likely to stay together, is the topic of the final chapter - which follows a very interesting chapter on wedding planning. The pattern of escalation in arguing is shown to be similar to tension leading to nuclear war, with a negative comment leading to much more negative result than a positive comment. Positive comments built step-wise in smaller increments to a positive conversation in comparison to negative comments which can plunge the conversation into an abyss of negativity (what the author calls a spiral of negativity) much more rapidly. The problem is, the participants are starting from inherent mistrust - if they have had problems - and so bona fides have to be proven all over again, thus the baby steps of building trust or even having a positive, validating, healthy conversation - whereas negativity once again simply confirms the pre-existing or established negative view of the other and thus the rapid, steep fall-off of the conversation into a pit of negativity. It is more difficult (or slower) to build up trust once it's been broken whereas the slide into negativity is almost immediate after one negative comment is rapid and unfortunately for many couples, irreversible. An outbreak of anger is an elemental emotion that is probably akin to the rapid expansion of fire - it's possible though that anger may be "useful" if both parties know their relationship cannot last, in that it affords a useful springboard into the next phase of their lives, and can give each former partner a target of blame/recrimination and so forth. This sounds like an ugly picture of divorce - but it might give each ex a structure or provide a seemingly rational reason as to why the marriage foundered. Had the couple gotten along up until they broke up, then there would always be the question as to why they broke up, if they were getting along. The author states that couples that do argue, and let anger out all along instead of keeping it bottled up, are more likely to stay together. Thus, it's not necessarily the always "calm" couples that are always in agreement that stay together - there's nothing wrong with having disagreements, as long as they do not get out of hand, or lead to ongoing bitterness. It may be healthier to have disagreements in the long term, rather than keep conflict bottled up.

This was a thought-provoking book that should be of interest to anyone interested in how math procedures/equations/methods can make sense of data on human relationships - and definitely makes math itself less "forbidding" or mysterious.

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Feb 22, 2021 Sydney rated it really liked it

This was a really interesting read that normally I wouldn't pick up. My partner had read and enjoyed this book and so I figured I'd give it a go!

Math is not an area of strength for me, however, you do not need to be a math lover to enjoy this book. The awesome relationships studies will appeal to those who are interested in sociological studies, figuring out new methods for dating, or how to improve your own relationship using some simple math tricks (especially tips on how to mathematically pla

This was a really interesting read that normally I wouldn't pick up. My partner had read and enjoyed this book and so I figured I'd give it a go!

All in all, this was a quick and easy read that was full of interesting information, as well as relationship tips and tricks!

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Jan 12, 2019 Shakir Shaikh rated it really liked it

I love Mathematics. But Mathematics of Love?? Must admit that the title intrigued me into picking up this one. And did not regret it. A different perspective on the human behavior from the readings I have had so far. A bit scary too. Are we that predictable and stereotype, that algorithms can define/manipulate us??? Something to think over.

Some very interesting ideas contain ed within this book, I always enjoy Hannah Fry's work so I feel I am probably biased. It was a little short (perfect for the book challenge) and I look forward to reading her next book, 'Hello World', on living 'in the age of the machine'. Some very interesting ideas contain ed within this book, I always enjoy Hannah Fry's work so I feel I am probably biased. It was a little short (perfect for the book challenge) and I look forward to reading her next book, 'Hello World', on living 'in the age of the machine'. ...more

Sauciest maths I've ever seen

Serves as a good reminder of how relevant maths are for anything. An interesting, funny and light read.

Dr Hannah Fry is a lecturer in the Mathematics of Cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL. She works alongside a unique mix of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, architects and geographers to study the patterns in human behaviour - particularly in an urban setting. Her research applies to a wide range of social problems and questions, from shopping and transport to Dr Hannah Fry is a lecturer in the Mathematics of Cities at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at UCL. She works alongside a unique mix of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, architects and geographers to study the patterns in human behaviour - particularly in an urban setting. Her research applies to a wide range of social problems and questions, from shopping and transport to urban crime, riots and terrorism.

Alongside her academic position, Hannah spends many of her days giving conference keynotes and taking the joy of maths into theatres, pubs and schools. She also regularly appears on TV and radio in the UK, most recently on BBC2's Six Degrees and in her own documentary charting the life of Lady Ada Lovelace.

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Luvvie Ajayi Jones—author, cultural critic, digital entrepreneur—might be best described as a professional truthteller. Her crazily popular...

"The problem is that we don't really know what we want until we find it. Unlike with Amazon or Netflix, where we truly know our tastes in films and other products, a questionnaire about our personal preferences just isn't enough to predict who will make us happy. Ultimately, finding a partner is just a lot more complicated than buying a DVD box set." — 4 likes

"As girls go through puberty, their hormones will have a direct impact on how their facial features develop. Women with high levels of estrogen will end up with full lips and a large waist-to-hip ratio, while women with lower levels of androgen, the steroid hormones, will keep their short and narrow jaws from childhood, along with their flatter brows—giving them much larger eyes. And—surprise, surprise—this balance of female hormones is also positively linked to fertility." — 3 likes

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