Coco Krumme publishes new book with Penguin Random House

University of Michigan School of Information lecturer Coco Krumme has published a new book with Penguin Random House. “Optimal Illusions: The False Promise of Optimization” explores the ways in which “streamlined systems limit our options and narrow our perspectives” and how the structures keeping us productive “can feel profoundly inhumane.”

Published in 2023, Krumme’s book draws from her background as an applied mathematician, her childhood in the Bay Area and her experiences in Silicon Valley. 

“I saw first-hand how the mindset of optimization can create amazing things, and also how it can blind us,” she says. “The latter came into focus when I moved to a small rural community, and later as the covid pandemic hit and brought into question the robustness of our optimized supply chains, economic markets and energy systems.” 

The book is written through the lens of various characters: A worker involved in building Amazon's new distribution center, a sugar beet farmer in North Dakota, Tech CEOs and lifestyle gurus like Marie Kondo. 

“I wanted to explore how optimization evolved as a technology, and as the dominant way we see the world today,” she says. “I trace how over the last centuries, optimization became our modern gospel, from its roots in America's founding principles to its modern-day expression in big Tech.” 

Krumme teaches in the online Master of Applied Data Science program at UMSI. She instructs the Milestone II course, which challenges students to apply their learning to realistic data science problems through project-based work. Outside of the MADS program, Krumme runs a computational science consultancy business focused on domains like agriculture, climate and materials science.

Krumme’s book has been praised by The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She is currently working on her next book project. 

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Learn more about Coco Krumme by visiting her UMSI faculty profile and her LinkedIn. 

Purchase “Optimal Illusions: The False Promise of Optimization” at Penguin Random House. 

Apply to UMSI’s Master of Applied Data Science program today and learn from industry thought leaders like Coco Krumme.