Reading Between the Numbers: Statistical Thinking in Everyday Life

Rating:
Summary: A New Angle on an Old Topic
Review: As a professional chemist, I do not look back on the statistics courses I took with particular fondness. While I didn't find them very difficult, neither did I feel that provided me with any deep insights. It was with this, lukewarm attitude that I first picked up Reading Between the Numbers. And then I noticed Chandler's quotation in one of its early chapters. Statistics and Chandler?! This must be interesting. I purchased the book and wasn't disappointed. I found the statistical concepts explained in a way that is both simple and insightful. And the book reminded me that I should have reviewed the topic, which is so important for my work, long ago. But I found the book unique in other ways as well. First, the book is relevant - there is not one concept in it that is not in some way connected to the real world. The author takes special care to show how and why statistics is important in both our professional and everyday lives. The concepts in Reading Between the Numbers are related to applications and vice versa, so that I can now see both sides in a new and more interesting light. Above all, I now feel that the ideas underlying statistics are more accessible to me than before. Second, as in many fields, the more advanced topics are based on earlier ones. And throughout, that author provides reminders of the basics so that I didn't find myself having to return to earlier chapters in order to understand later ones. It seems to me that author was simply sensitive to the needs of nonprofessional readers, which is a rarity in professional books. Finally, Reading Between the Numbers a joy to read. It is written as fiction rather than science and is often very funny. That the author has a rather quirky sense of humor is clear. That he has succeeded in combining it with statistics seems to me no small achievement.