About How Many Licks...
Have you ever wondered how many calories are in the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man? How many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? How long it would take to dig your way to China using a spoon? How Many Licks? shows you how to calculate these and other amusing tidbits quickly and easily using the math we all know. Click here for purchasing info.
Press
"Never before have I seen a book that could so effectively prepare a person to create their own depository of party trivia while brushing up on math skills. Nice!"
—Danica McKellar, actress and author of Math Doesn't Suck and Kiss My Math
"The author puts his doctorate degree in physics to entertaining use...Santos' puzzle-solving prowess shows you just how much you can do when you put on your thinking cap."
—Neil Pond, American Profile
"It's a well-done book and a fun read..."
—Chad Orzel, in a review on his Uncertain Principles blog.
"[Fermi problems] are easy and one of the more powerful and useful tools that everyone should have in their mathematical toolbox."
—Rob Sparks in a review on The Half-Astrophysicist Blog.
"How Many Licks? would seem to be a fun way to get young (or maybe even not-so-young) people interested in math and science. "
—Alan Reifman in a review on his Watered Down Physics blog.
A nice "local boy makes good" write up by The Standard Times.
"Anyone who harbors a preconception that only those blessed to commune with the forces of mathematics can hope to divine the answers to questions like 'How long of a line can you draw with one pen before it runs out of ink?' should totally read this book."
—Mark Zhang in a The Tech.
"This book is beyond cool."
—Corey Evans in a posting on his The Process blog. (Full Disclosure: Corey is my friend.)
Events and Appearances
September 6 @ 1pm (EST)
Radio Interview
The Naked Scientists
Cambridge, UK
Podcast available here.
September 16 @ 2:35pm (EST)
Radio Interview
Groks Science Radio Show and Podcast
Chicago, IL
Podcast available here.
September 17 @ 3pm
Invited Talk
Google
Ann Arbor, MI
Video available here.
October 18 @ 8am
Morning News Guest
WXYZ-TV Detroit
Detroit, MI
Video available here.
November 6 @ 7pm
Talk
Ignite
Blau Auditorium
Ann Arbor, MI
For details, click here. (My talk starts about 35 minutes in.)
January 8 @ 6pm (MST)
Radio Interview
Skeptically Speaking Radio Show and Podcast
Edmonton, Alberta
Podcast available here.
Questions and Answers
Q: Why did you write How Many Licks?
A: Far too often, I've heard people say they love science but didn't study it because they ''couldn't do the math.'' I'm certainly not here to argue that math is easy. (Even some of the simple problems in this book are pretty cumbersome if you haven't done algebra in awhile.) That said, most of the people who survive in this field aren't math supergeniuses. They survive (and even thrive) because they're able to think about problems in a way that relates to them. This book is my small attempt at getting everyday people to feel more comfortable with math by using it in a way we all can relate to.
Q: I work at news agency X. Is there any chance I can interview you?
A: Sure...just email me at aaron at aaronsantos dot com to set up a time and place.
Q: Where do you get your ideas for stuff to calculations?
A: They get sent to me in a package from a factory in Bassett, NE. Well, there's that plus some combination of problems that come out of my own head and a bunch of problems that come out of the other heads around me. I've been blessed to be around a number of intelligent, talented, and imaginative heads.
Q: So...you take suggestions for stuff to calculate?
A: Sometimes. It depends on what the suggestion is. There are certain things that don't make sense to calculate (e.g. the number of invisible pink elephants in the room), but as long as it's something physical and I think it's interesting, then I'll give it a shot. If you're the first one to suggest it to me and it ends up in a book, I'll definitely put you in the acknowledgments.
Q: Are any of these calculations right?
A: Surprisingly, yes. Some of them are actually pretty close to the correct answer, but I make no promises. Remember, the book only teaches you how to estimate things and think about numbers. It's not a book of factoids.
Q: I like the title and the picture with the slobber. How did you come up with that?
A: I can't take credit for either. Both were suggestions by some of the many hardworking people at Running Press that helped make this book possible.
Q: Did you have any alternate titles?
A: We had a few...Factiness, Engaging Gauging, Great Estimations (already taken), The Grapes of Math (already taken), Good Enough for Government Work, Horseshoes and Hand Granades, Go Figure, Guesstimations (already taken), It's Good Fermi...Was it Good For You, Enrico Suave, Easy Fermi...Easy For You, FermiRections, The Prime Equator, A View From the Equator, The Math to Righteousness, The Math Less Taken, A Math Made in Heaven, Dim Analysis, A Relaxing Bubble Math, He Who Math All, The Math of Kahn, Don't Equate for Dinner, Algae Bras (this one could have had a great cover), Times After Times, Go Forth And Multiply, Who's Having Sex And Other Math Problems, I'm a Number Jack and I'm OK, How to Drink and Derive, You're Deriving Me Crazy, Over Your Head Projections, Educate Your Guesses, Dilly Tally, Mathturbation, Everything You Wanted to Know About Math but Were Afraid to Calculate.
How Many Licks? Contest
You can win a free copy of How Many Licks? Here's how it works...
On December 15, I'll post a Fermi question on my Twitter account.
To enter, estimate an answer and send it to me at aaron at aaronsantos dot com.
If your answer is the closest to the one I come up with, I'll mail you free signed copy.
Submit all entries before January 1, 2010. Don't worry...I won't spam or share your email with any third parties.
NOTE: I make no pretenses that my answer is correct. Your answer may very well be a better estimate than mine. In fact, your estimate may even be exactly right and you still may not win
the contest if somebody else's answer is closer to mine. Sorry about that. This is the best way I could come up with to pick a winner and I'm not changing it now.
Like any good game, there's an element of luck required even if you do have great skill. With that disclaimer out of the way, good luck and happy calculatings!
Errata, typos, and other things I screwed up...
When writing a book, you inevitably mess some things up. Here are some of the things that went wrong but still made it into the final version...
Missing thank you's...I'd like to thank editor Jennifer Leczkowski, who came on late in the process, but did a wonderful job putting together the final version.
Missing thank you's (Part II)...Special thanks to Joshua McDonnell for both the book design and the cover photograph. There are more people that liked the drool than I can estimate.
Missing thank you's (Part III)...Thank you to Mario Zucca for doing the many great illustrations in the book.