Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
The Mathematics of Love summary
Hannah Fry
Patterns, Proofs, and the Search for the Ultimate Equation
20 mins
Table of Contents
The Mathematics of Love
summarized in 9 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 9
We can calculate our chances of finding a partner – but we shouldn’t be too picky.
The search for romantic love can sometimes leave us feeling somewhat hopeless – as though the odds are against us. One such discouraged bachelor was mathematician Peter Backus. In 2010, Backus went so far as to prove that there were more intelligent alien civilizations out there than there were potential girlfriends for him!
His conclusion was based on calculations led by the following questions:
How many women live near me? In his case – in London – four million.
How many are likely to be of the right age range? This came to 20 percent, or 800,000 women.
How many are likely to be single? This amounted to 50 percent, or 400,000 women.
How many are likely to have a university degree? This would be 26 percent, or 104,000 women.
How many are likely to be attractive? He calculated this at five percent, or 5,200 women.
How many are likely to find me attractive? Again, this was calculated at five percent, or 260 women.
Finally, how many am I likely to get along well with? This came to ten percent, or 26 women.
This left Backus with just 26 women to date. In contrast, scientists currently estimate there to be around 10,000 intelligent alien civilizations in our galaxy.
But if Backus had been a tad less picky and relaxed his criteria a little, he would’ve had a substantially larger pool of potential partners. For example, he assumed that he would only get on with one in ten women he met. Yet if he increased this percentage to 20 percent, along with increasing the percentage he found attractive to 20 percent, and the percentage of women who would find him attractive to 20 percent, he would be left with a far more optimistic total of 832 potential partners.
In love, it pays to be moderately flexible with your criteria.
As luck, or perhaps math, would have it, Backus eventually tied the knot in 2014.
Want to see all full key ideas from The Mathematics of Love?
Key ideas in The Mathematics of Love
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is The Mathematics of Love about?
Love is full of patterns – from the number of sexual partners we have to the way we select potential mates from dating websites. In The Mathematics of Love (2015), Hannah Fry sheds some light on these patterns and teaches you how to calculate your chances of finding The One, make a mathematical argument to justify approaching someone in a bar, and to use a mathematical trick to plan your wedding.
Best quote from The Mathematics of Love
[... Mathematics] can offer a new way of looking at almost anything – even something as mysterious as love.
—Hannah Fry
Who should read The Mathematics of Love?
- Anyone interested in how mathematics can help them in the dating world
- Romantics looking for The One
Categories with The Mathematics of Love
Books like The Mathematics of Love
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
26 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers