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Kit Yates

Goodreads Author

Born

Manchester, The United Kingdom

Website

https://www.kityates.com

Twitter

Kit_Yates_Maths

Genre

Science, Nonfiction

Influences

Ian McEwan Philip Pullman ...more

Member Since

April 2026

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Kit Yates is an author, broadcaster and academic specialising in the role of mathematics in everyday life; a speaker who can explain scientific material in layman's language with wit as well as wisdom.

He is the author of three books, The Maths of Life and Death (a Sunday Times Science Book of the Year) and now How to Expect the Unexpected and You Don’t Know What You’re M ss ng.

Kit completed his PhD in mathematics at the University of Oxford and is now Professor of Mathematical Biology and Public Engagement at the University of Bath.

He is a prominent commentator on the role of mathematics/science in society writing regularly for the Guardian and the Independent and a range of other media outlets. He regularly appears on radio shows like the ...more

14 posts
Kit Yates's Blog

Making Sense of It All

“The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even once.” - Rene Descartes

Over the next few weeks, I’m running a series of posts summarising the chapters of my new book, You Don’t Know What You’re M ss ng, ahead of publication on 4th June. The aim is to give you a feel for the shape of the book, the kinds of stories I use to illustrat

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Kit Yates’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 2,545 ratings · 354 reviews · 11 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Math of Life and Death: 7 Mathematical Principles That Shape Our Lives 3.90 avg rating — 2,345 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Expect the Unexpected: The Science of Making Predictions―and the Art of Knowing When Not To 3.69 avg rating — 190 ratings — published 2023 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Het grote verschil really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Expect the Unexpected: The Science of Making Predictions and the Art of Knowing When Not To liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Matematika zivota i smrti : zasto je (skoro) sve matematika really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Math of Life and Death really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wie man vorhersieht, womit keiner rechnet [How to Expect the Unexpected]: Richtige Prognosen treffen und unnütze vermeiden [The Science of Making Predictions—and the Art of Knowing When Not To] by Kit Yates (Goodreads Author), Carsten Wilhelm (Narrator), Bernd Schuh - translator 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Expect the Unexpected: The Science of Making Predictions and the Art of Knowing When Not To 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Don't Know What You're Missing: The science of what’s lost, and how to find it 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Expect the Unexpected: The Science of Making Predictions―and the Art of Knowing When Not To 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Kit’s Recent Updates

Kit Yates wrote a new blog post Making Sense of It All “The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even once.” - Rene Descartes Over the next f Read more of this blog post »
Apr 25, 2026 07:11AM · like
Kit Yates rated a book it was amazing And When Did You Last See Your Father? by Blake Morrison	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 16, 2026 03:07PM · like

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Quotes by Kit Yates (?)

“We all have choices to make that affect our likelihood of contracting infectious disease: whether to holiday in exotic countries; whom to let our children play with; whether we travel on crowded public transport. When we are ill, other choices we make affect our likelihood of transmitting disease to others: whether we cancel the much-anticipated catch-up with our friends; whether we keep our children home from school; whether we cover our mouths when we cough. The crucial decision on whether we vaccinate ourselves and our dependents can only be taken ahead of time. It affects our chances not only of catching but also of transmitting diseases. Some of these decisions are inexpensive, making their adoption straightforward. It costs nothing to sneeze into a tissue or a handkerchief. Simply washing your hands frequently and carefully has been shown to reduce the effective reproduction numbers of respiratory illnesses such as flu by as much as three-quarters. For some diseases, this might be enough to take us below the threshold value of R0, so that an infectious disease cannot break out.”
― Kit Yates, The Math of Life and Death: 7 Mathematical Principles That Shape Our Lives

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“Maths is the false alarms that play on our minds and the false confidence that helps us sleep at night; the stories pushed at us on social media and the memes that spread through it. Maths is the loopholes in the law and the needle that closes them; the technology that saves lives and the mistakes that put them at risk; the outbreak of a deadly disease and the strategies to control it. It is the best hope we have of answering the most fundamental questions about the enigmas of the Cosmos and the mysteries of our own species.”
― Kit Yates, The Math of Life and Death: 7 Mathematical Principles That Shape Our Lives

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