In the time of the ancients, the great and powerful looked to the Oracle of Delphi, located on the slope of Mt. Parnassus, for wisdom on waging wars and other important policy decisions. Today, scientists have become the new oracles, but in Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmental Scientists Can’t Predict the Future, Duke University coastal geologist Orrin Pilkey and environmental scientist Linda Pilkey-Jarvis argue that existing mathematical models that have been used to predict such phenomena as global warming, coastal erosion and fishery populations are deeply flawed. Prof. Pilkey will read and discuss the book this Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Regulator Bookshop (286-2700, www.regbook.com).
