How to Read Numbers

Chalkdust

12 April 2022

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Tom Chivers is a science writer. David Chivers is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Durham. How to Read Numbers (Amazon UK, Waterstones) is their book about common statistical misconceptions and mistakes and how to avoid them.

Style

How to Read Numbers is made up of lots of short chapters, each focusing on a different important thing to consider when interpreting data. Each chapter is very readable and enjoyable, and I often found myself thinking “ooh, just one more then” as I reached the end of a chapter.

Control

The concepts in this book are very clearly explained, and related to real examples.

Damage

There are quite a few books about topics similar the this one (as there should be, it’s an important topic), but this is a well written and readable one. The conciseness of the explanation of each statistical nugget makes this book particularly suitable for non-mathematicians reading it. But there’s still plenty in there for mathematicians to enjoy.

Aggression

I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their confidence when interpreting statistics. Even if your statistical confidence is high, it’s probably worth reading just to be sure: in any case, you’ll at least enjoy it.

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