"The point of math isn't solving problems," Jordan Ellenberg told me, "it's understanding stuff." And all too often these days we're misunderstanding stuff, even if we have more numbers than ever to work with. Jordan and I discussed some of the mathematical muddles we get into in politics, economics, finance and scientific research and how we can do better. He's a professor of math at the University of Wisconsin and the author of the acclaimed new book "How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking."
