Home / Science / Popular Science / Popular Mathematics / The Number Bias: How Numbers Dominate Our World and Why That's a Problem We Need to Fix

The Number Bias: How Numbers Dominate Our World and Why That's a Problem We Need to Fix

AUTHOR
Price
€12.40
€13.80 -10%
Upon request
Dispatched within 15 - 25 days.

Add to wishlist

NOW WITH NEW PROLOGUE ABOUT DEMYSTIFYING CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS, DONALD TRUMP AND WHY STATISTICS MATTER MORE THAN EVER

‘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

Even if you don’t consider yourself a numbers person, you are a numbers person. The time has come to put numbers in their place. Not high up on a pedestal, or out on the curb, but right where they belong: beside words.

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.

Sanne Blauw 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.

‘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

Author: Blauw Sanne
Publisher: -
Pages: 192
ISBN: 9781529342772
Cover: Paperback
Edition Number: 1
Release Year: 2021

Sanne Blauw is the numeracy correspondent for Dutch online news site and publisher De Correspondent. She has a PhD in econometrics from the Erasmus School of Economics and the Tinbergen Institute, and was a journalist-in-residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. Her first book, The Number Bias, was a bestseller in the Netherlands and spent several weeks on the bestseller lists.

You may also like

Newsletter

Subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to receive our new releases and offers
Your account Your wishlist

This website uses cookies

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners.