Thanks to Ptolemy’s mismeasurement of the oceans, Columbus embarked on a trip to India that unexpectedly resulted in the discovery of America.1 So as long as there have been numbers, there have been miscalculations. Today, mathematical figuring, whether as evidence or analytics, plays a prominent role in cases relying on circumstantial proof and inferential reasoning. With progress in the revision of forensic science, it might be time also to renew acquaintance with the language of science.2
In criminal court, math can multiply mistakes and lead to injustice in several key ways: (1) the misuse of mathematics by prosecutors; (2) the failure of defense attorneys to recognize those errors; and (3) the courts’ inability or unwillingness to correct them.3 Indeed, there is a body of case law and scholarship that has been addressing these issues for more than a generation.4
