Model mistakes

Mathematical modelling is an indispensable analytical tool, but not always accurate. Erica Thompson's book takes a nuanced look at the challenges of matching its predictions against reality

Escape from Model Land: How mathematical models can lead us astray and what we can do about it

Author: Erica Thompson

Publisher: Hachette

Pages: 247

Price: Rs 899

This highly original and thought-provoking book is a philosophical treatise on the art and practice of mathematical modelling. It is funny, light-hearted, and engaging even as it examines very deep foundational questions. The “escape” in the title is really about moving out of the rigid artificial constraints of a model back into the real world, to match the model’s predictions against reality.

Erica Thompson is a physicist who moved into data science with research interests in