Ali Kayaspor, Many thanks, I enjoy your articles.

Mathematics is often an unappreciated subject and maybe particularly in the US. When I lived in New York we had lots of dinners parties (14 or 16 around my cutting board as a table — I was a fashion designer). I found it fun to determine which of our guests had an understanding in mathematics and those that did not (I kept my study and conclusions to myself mind). We all enjoyed discussing events, art, politics and everything, but remarkably few around the table could actually build arguments that actually stood up — that had a structure to them, or even made sense. Most of the talk was anecdotal and certainly colorful but lacked the underlying substance that the anecdotal may be beautifully attached.

I don’t know, are Volvos really as safe as they make out in their advertisements?

Absolutely they are! My father owned a Volvo and he ran off a cliff in his. It rolled over 5 times before coming to rest at the bottom. Opened the door — not a scratch!

I have come to be fearful of the consequences of confussing facts with story telling — or having one without the other.