John Allen Paulos

John Allen Paulos is a bestselling author, mathematician, and public speaker is professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has gained fame as a writer and speaker on mathematics and the importance of mathematical literacy. Paulos writes about many subjects, especially of the dangers of mathematical innumeracy; that is, the layperson's misconceptions about numbers, probability, and logic.

He has written many books including Mathematics and Humor, I Think Therefore I Laugh, Innumeracy - Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, Beyond Numeracy - Ruminations of a Numbers Man, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, Once Upon a Number, A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market and Irreligion:A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. He also writes the "Who's Counting" column for ABCNews.com.

In 2001 Paulos taught a course on quantitative literacy for journalists at the Columbia University School of Journalism. The course stimulated further programs at Columbia and elsewhere in precision and data-driven journalism.

He is an active public speaker whose talks are both illuminating and humorous, he has spoken to audiences at Smithsonian, Harvard's Nieman Journalism Fellows, Hasty Pudding Club, NASA and the National Academy among others.