The Art Of Statistics

A lively and informative guide to statistics in the age of data science from the President of the Royal Statistical Society.

Every day in the news, we are confronted with a mind-bending range of statistics about the economy, health, unemployment and more, and this information overload has only increased in the wake of the big data revolution. But data does not speak for itself. A basic grasp of statistical literacy is more important than ever in order to think critically about the world.

In Statistics: The Art of Learning from Data, David Spiegelhalter responds to the growing interest in data science by guiding the reader through the basic statistical principles we need in order not be misled by the numbers. He introduces the fundamental topics in modern statistics - such as data visualization, bias, variability, data-analytics, probability models, discovery, Bayesian inference, and reproducibility - without unnecessary technical detail or equations. Drawing on a range of intriguing contemporary examples and studies, Spiegelhalter uses real world issues to highlight the best (and worst) ways to approach statistical problems.

Smart, accessible and packed with the essentials for students and statistics-bewildered readers alike, this book will give you the basic principles for how to derive knowledge from data.