Why read Damned Lies and Statistics?

Book cover of Damned Lies and Statistics

Book description

Here, by popular demand, is the updated edition to Joel Best's classic guide to understanding how numbers can confuse us. In his new afterword, Best uses examples from recent policy debates to reflect on the challenges to improving statistical literacy. Since its publication ten years ago, Damned Lies and Statistics…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Damned Lies and Statistics as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jim E. Riviere

Author

This book was my first exposure to the practical application of many scientific principles to societal issues and their laws.

As a scientist who fully understands the limitations of certain statistical tests and chemical assays, I was shocked to see how these could be so misapplied. This book presents numerous examples of how statistics improperly conducted or interpreted can be simply wrong when they are taken out of context.

This foray into the popular literature transformed my thinking on the application of mathematical principles to everyday problems.

From Jim's list on how numbers such as zero have affected society’s evolution and its concept of risk.