Unlock the Power of Numbers: 10 Rules for Thinking Differently About Math

Azay: this is a book of narratives, full of examples, and straining points. If you have read other popular science books, most of this book is repetitive and even felt slightly boring. I ended up skipping pages, and pages, without loss of meaning. Not the new information or insightful interpretation I was hoping for.

United Kingdom on Sep 24, 2023

Kindle Customer: Easy to understand.

United States on Aug 23, 2023

Hob: This is a book full of great examples (backed up with footnotes and references for those who wish to delve deeper). It’s entertaining and enlightening.

A book for the curious

United Kingdom on Aug 05, 2023

Alistair Young: This is a clear, entertainingly written book which shows the crucial importance of statistics when properly used.

United Kingdom on Jul 24, 2023

Rowan: Tim Hartford makes complicated concepts clearer and more importantly easier to understand. He also makes statistics interesting. I would have given it 5 stars if it hadn't finished at 66% due to the lengthy list of acknowledgements, citing and index. Nevertheless a very important book that will not only spur your curiosity but also calm some of your fears.

United Kingdom on May 18, 2023

Bama Fan: I am a big fan of Harford's work and have been making my way through his library. All of his books are insightful and thoughtful and this one is no exception. He provides great examples of the use of statistics and points out the importance of using them in order to better understand the world. There are several interesting anecdotes and comparisons drawn from those who are able to change their opinion based on statistics vs. those who are not and it provides good steps for us to take in our everyday lives to try and reach the best conclusions possible. It is written and accessible for the general public and if you are curious, then you will totally enjoy it! Highly recommend!

United States on Dec 06, 2022

FrankT: Tim Harford's long-running Radio 4 series called 'More or Less' is a hugely enjoyable set of programmes that explore the validity and role of statistics in public life. 'How to Make the World Add Up' is very much in this strain. He sets himself the task of persuading us 'that statistics can be used to illuminate reality with clarity and honesty' while advising us how to evaluate statistical claims for ourselves. This leads him to proffer ten 'commandments' (he is rightly uncomfortable with his choice of this word) for us to follow when confronted with such claims. At the end of the book he condenses all of these into a two-word piece of advice: Be curious. Along the way he illustrates each of his commandments with telling, intriguing and frequently surprising examples from real life. At times these examples draw us too far off the path and into the forest, and for my taste a British author should not rely so heavily on American examples; but no matter, they are well written and hold the attention. I can even put up with his evident political prejudices (he seemingly cannot resist taking swipes at Brexit, for example, even when this has nothing to do with the point he is...

United Kingdom on Dec 08, 2021

Dr David Brooks: An excellent book. Quite thought provoking and not a quick read, but definitely worth the effort

United States on Nov 04, 2021

Kyle B.: This is a simple, but interesting book, that, if you take its concepts on board, should improve your ability to understand the world. The author has fun stories that help reinforce the ten rules he gives on understanding the world. They can be briefly be summed up with "be curious" which means think about what was measured when given data, consider how it makes you feel and take those feelings into account when evaluating the information, and think about how the general statistic and personal experience can be made consistent (or why they may seem inconsistent). These are good things to be reminded of, and Harford does a good job of explaining that these small steps don't require great mathematical sophistication or intellectual reasoning, just stopping and really thinking about what is being presented or said and performing a little bit of a robustness check.

While I would certainly recommend it if this sounds interesting to you, I worry that the type of person who would read this book might already be the type of person who would be aware of and doing the sorts of checks that Harford presents. If you think that you've got the above down, I certainly couldn't say you need...

United States on Mar 27, 2021

Jennifer Aaker: This is a wildly important book. A must for anyone who has firm views on the world. Tim reveals how we can be lied to but also how to look at our new world with a very different lens, equipping us for modern life, providing a tool kit to cut through the lies that now define our day to day. But it also leaves you with a sense of hope and optimism, cultivated by a great ability to share stories with the data.

United States on Oct 08, 2020