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The Number Bias
The Number Bias
It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we’re doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren’t as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this – or use it for their own gain.
It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we’re doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren’t as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this – or use it for their own gain.
The Number Bias travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance, from Florence Nightingale using statistics to petition for better conditions during the Crimean War to the manipulation of numbers by the American tobacco industry and the ambiguous figures peddled during the EU referendum.
The Number Bias travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance, from Florence Nightingale using statistics to petition for better conditions during the Crimean War to the manipulation of numbers by the American tobacco industry and the ambiguous figures peddled during the EU referendum.
Taking us from the everyday numbers that govern our health and wellbeing to the statistics used to wield enormous power and influence, The Number Bias counsels us to think more wisely.
Taking us from the everyday numbers that govern our health and wellbeing to the statistics used to wield enormous power and influence, The Number Bias counsels us to think more wisely.
You can now order the book.
You can now order the book.
Praise
Praise
"The Number Bias combines vivid storytelling with authoritative analysis to deliver a warning about the way numbers can lead us astray – if we let them."
"The Number Bias combines vivid storytelling with authoritative analysis to deliver a warning about the way numbers can lead us astray – if we let them."
– Tim Harford
– Tim Harford
"A beautifully accessible exploration of how numbers shape our lives, and the importance of accurately interpreting the statistics we are fed."
"A beautifully accessible exploration of how numbers shape our lives, and the importance of accurately interpreting the statistics we are fed."
– Angela Saini, author of Superior
– Angela Saini, author of Superior
"Sanne Blauw is the maths, economics and history teacher that everyone wished they'd had. We'll be hearing a lot more from her in the future."
"Sanne Blauw is the maths, economics and history teacher that everyone wished they'd had. We'll be hearing a lot more from her in the future."
– Rutger Bregman, author of Utopia for Realists
– Rutger Bregman, author of Utopia for Realists
"...a punchy, amusing history of the deliberate misuse of statistics… The digestibility of Blauw’s offering is also a public virtue in itself, if it encourages more people to read it and immunise themselves against the virality of numerical disinformation."
"...a punchy, amusing history of the deliberate misuse of statistics… The digestibility of Blauw’s offering is also a public virtue in itself, if it encourages more people to read it and immunise themselves against the virality of numerical disinformation."
- The Guardian
- The Guardian
“Aware that many readers are likely to be daunted by a book about numbers, Blauw soothes such anxieties through her accessible style, brevity (the book runs to 170 pages) and, particularly, by focussing on stories rather than statistics… Using a calm, unshowy approach, Blauw convincingly argues that numbers should inform our choices, but they cannot make decisions for us.”
“Aware that many readers are likely to be daunted by a book about numbers, Blauw soothes such anxieties through her accessible style, brevity (the book runs to 170 pages) and, particularly, by focussing on stories rather than statistics… Using a calm, unshowy approach, Blauw convincingly argues that numbers should inform our choices, but they cannot make decisions for us.”
- Sunday Business Post
- Sunday Business Post
“Statistics and data can tell the truth, but they can also lie, as this valuable book explains… you can never read the points Blauw makes too often."
“Statistics and data can tell the truth, but they can also lie, as this valuable book explains… you can never read the points Blauw makes too often."
- The Times
- The Times
"Sanne Blauw... provides startling insight about how manipulated figures can lead us astray, laying bare the perils of blindly buying into the hyperbole of peddled statistics."
"Sanne Blauw... provides startling insight about how manipulated figures can lead us astray, laying bare the perils of blindly buying into the hyperbole of peddled statistics."
- Herald
- Herald
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