Taking It Further: Books
In recent years, publishers have come up with a large range of books that manage to throw light on how numbers are used, without being either boring or incomprehensible. Here, in no particular order, are just a few of my favourites that you might like to read.
The Tiger that Isn’t by Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot (Profile Books, 2007). Blastland and Dilnot were, respectively, the original creator and producer of More or Less and the original presenter. The book has very similar aims to the programme itself — to use lively and relevant contexts to show you how to make sense of the numbers that are used so prevalently in public argument and decision making. You’ll see how making sense of the numbers is very often simply a matter of using common sense and everyday experience, but that even so the key principles aren’t always understood by those who should know better.
The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century, by David Salsburg (Owl Books, 2002). Salsburg, a statistician with a long career in academia and industry, describes how ever more powerful statistical methods were developed and used during the last century. The book isn’t burdened with difficult technical details, but instead is full of wonderful historical and biographical insights into the individuals concerned, may of whom the author knew and worked with.
Why Do Buses Come in Threes?: The Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life and How Long Is a Piece of String?: More Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life, by Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham (Robson Books, 1999 and 2003). Two wonderfully entertaining books answering all sorts of questions about everyday life, and throwing some light on the mathematics behind them.
Dicing with Death: Chance, Risk and Health, by Stephen Senn (Cambridge University Press, 2003). Stephen Senn is a professor of medical statistics, but don’t let that put you off! In an amusing and idiosyncratic style, he explains what medical statisticians do and why it’s important to you. He tackles the big issues: how medicines are developed and tested, how the link between smoking and lung cancer was found, how risks of medical treatment are evaluated. But he also includes an entertaining and fascinating range of statistical puzzles, paradoxes and anecdotes.
Taking Chances: Winning with Probability, by John Haigh (Oxford University Press, revised edition 2003). Probability comes into our lives in many ways, from the obvious (what are the chances of winning the Lottery) to the more hidden (what insurance should I buy). Haigh’s book explains.
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford (Abacus, 2007). This book, by the current More or Less presenter, brings the principles and approaches of modern economics to life. Harford looks at familiar situations in unfamiliar ways, looking at examples like the price of cappuccinos for London commuters and why some times of organised crime make money while others don’t.
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Penguin Books, 2006). Levitt is an economist and Dubner a journalist. This very readable book covers broadly similar ground to The Undercover Economist, in using ideas and principles from economics to provide new and often surprising insights about modern society. Levitt and Dubner’s style is different from Harford’s, partly because they are American, and the examples are different and provide a different range of insights — but if you like one of these books, you’ll probably like the other one too.
Free Lunch, by David Smith (Profile Books, 2003). A comprehensible guide to the economics and finance that one hears about every day in the news.
The Truth About Markets : Why Some Countries are Rich and Others Remain Poor, by John Kay (Penguin Books, 2004). This book deals with some key questions of economics in an accessible way. How and why do markets work? What are the alternatives? Why do they sometimes fail catastrophically?
The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, by David Wells (Penguin Books, revised edition 1997). This book is just what the title says it is: a compendium of curious (indeed often bizarre) and interesting facts about numbers.
Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, by John Allen Paulos (Penguin Books, 2000). Paulos discusses a paradox, that our modern world requires more and more use of numbers to make sense of it, while there’s a disturbing tendency for us to become less able to deal with numbers. This makes it all sound terribly serious and worthy — but far from it, the book is amusing, interesting and thought-provoking.
Reckoning with Risk: Learning to Live with Uncertainty, by Gerd Gigerenzer (Penguin Books, 2003). The world is full of uncertainty and risk. There are ways of thinking about and dealing with this uncertainty, but most of us know very little about them. With an excellent range of case studies and examples, this book aims to provide us all with the basic tools for understanding risk.
Content last updated: 06/01/2005
About our expert
Kevin McConway is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Open University, where he teaches statistics and health studies, and researches in several areas including statistical theory, health service organization, ecology and evolution.
He has degrees in mathematics, statistics, psychology and business from the Universities of Cambridge and London and the Open University. Kevin originally comes from rural Northumberland but is now a long-term Milton Keynes resident.
