Product Description

Numbers have become the all-powerful language of public argument. Too often, that power is abused and the numbers bamboozle. This book shows how to see straight through them - and how to seize the power for yourself. Public spending, health risks, environmental disasters, who is rich, who is poor, Aids or war deaths, pensions, teenage offenders, the best and worst schools and hospitals, immigration - life comes in numbers. The trick to seeing through them is strikingly simple. It is to apply something everyone has - the lessons of their own experience. Using vivid and everyday images and ideas, this book shows how close to hand insight and understanding can be, and how we can all use what is familiar to make sense of what is baffling. It is also a revelation - of how little the principles are understood even by many who claim to know better. This book is written by the team who created and present the hugely popular BBC Radio 4 series, More or Less.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84817 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
This delightful book should be compulsory reading for everyone responsible for presenting data and for everyone who consumes it. --Sunday Telegraph

...this is one of those maths books that claims to be self-help, and on the evidence presented here, we are in dire need of it... --Daily Telegraph

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England
'How to use the knowledge we already possess to understand numbers and make sense of the world around us.'

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, Royal Society of Arts
`If every politician and journalist were required to read this engaging and eye-opening book before embarking on their career, we would live in a wiser, better-governed world.'

Customer Reviews

Read this book!
If you think you are average, read this book! If you've ever worried about a 20% increase in the risk of getting cancer if you drink one unit of alcohol a day, read this book!

I am the least numerate person imaginable, but I couldn't put it down. Fascinating, informative, and, yes, funny in places, shocking in others, never dull, a real page-turner. I have gained a more balanced view of the numbers thrown at me day after day, and have learnt to say "What does this mean for me? what is the human scale of this?"

It is said there's no gain without pain, but that certainly doesn't apply to this book.

Making numbers interesting
I used to have nightmares about maths exams. But this book illuminates how important numbers are in news and public policy, and how not to be caught out by them.

From reports about risks from mobile phone masts to child growth charts, Dilnot and Blastland use engaging examples to probe some of the common mistakes people often make with numbers.

Journalists frequently get stories wrong by failing to examine what a number on a press release really means. After reading this book you'll start to see the holes in many headlines. And you'll understand much more about the world.

I just recommended it to a friend who teaches A level maths for her students. It will help instil an understanding of the importance of numbers which I never had at school.

Is it a lie? or a damned statistic? or simply a misinterpretation?
Stimulating reading for the generally curious. Drawing on loads of interesting real-life examples, this book gives you a simple set of questions that allow you to get behind the headlines and understand the significance of the numbers in the news. It's easy to read, well-informed and should be a Christmas bestseller.