New Releases by Kaiser Fung

Uma espiada extremamente divertida nas estatísticas do dia a dia que o ajudam a superar as probabilidades - no trabalho, no lazer e na vida - Qual é a probabilidade de você ganhar na loteria? - Por que as taxas de seguro que você paga são tão altas? - Como a estatística pode ajudar a evitar um surto de gripe suína? - Como os atletas dopados produzem uma dezena de resultados de exames negativos antes de serem pegos? O estatístico e blogueiro Kaiser Fung é o nosso mentor no mundo velado dos fatos e dos números — aqueles que afetam nossa vida diária, de todas as formas. São as estatísticas que governam sua vida, seu trabalho, suas viagens diárias de casa para o trabalho, suas férias, o que você come, sua saúde, seu dinheiro e seu sucesso. Elas controlam como os engenheiros avaliam sua qualidade de vida, como as empresas identificam seus desejos e como os políticos avaliam suas opiniões. São números sobre os quais você nunca pensa — ainda que eles desempenhem um papel fundamental em todos os aspectos de sua vida. KAISER FUNG, estatístico profissional, estudou nas universidades de Cambridge, Harvard e Princeton. Atualmente, trabalha como estatístico na Sirius XM Radio, onde aplica seus métodos à publicidade e à área de comportamento do consumidor. Seu aclamado blog, Junk Charts (junkcharts.typepad.com), abriu caminho para a avaliação de dados e gráficos nos meios de comunicação de massa.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS YOU''LL WIN THE LOTTERY? How long will your kids wait in line at Disney World? Who decides that “standardized tests” are fair? Why do highway engineers build slow-moving ramps? What does it mean, statistically, to be an “Average Joe”? NUMBERS RULE YOUR WORLD In the popular tradition of eye-opening bestsellers like Freakonomics, The Tipping Point, and Super Crunchers, this fascinating book from renowned statistician and blogger Kaiser Fung takes you inside the hidden world of facts and figures that affect you every day, in every way. These are the statistics that rule your life, your job, your commute, your vacation, your food, your health, your money, and your success. This is how engineers calculate your quality of living, how corporations determine your needs, and how politicians estimate your opinions. These are the numbers you never think about-even though they play a crucial role in every single aspect of your life. What you learn may surprise you, amuse you, or even enrage you. But there''s one thing you won''t be able to deny: Numbers Rule Your World... "For those who have anxiety about how organization data-mining is impacting their world, Kaiser Fung pulls back the curtain to reveal the good and the bad of predictive analytics." --Ian Ayres,Yale professor and author of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking By Numbers is the New Way to Be Smart "A book that engages us with stories that a journalist would write, the compelling stories behind the stories as illuminated by the numbers, and the dynamics that the numbers reveal." --John Sall, Executive Vice President, SAS Institute

How to make simple sense of complex statistics--from the author of Numbers Rule Your World We live in a world of Big Data--and it''s getting bigger every day. Virtually every choice we make hinges on how someone generates data . . . and how someone else interprets it--whether we realize it or not. Where do you send your child for the best education? Big Data. Which airline should you choose to ensure a timely arrival? Big Data. Who will you vote for in the next election? Big Data. The problem is, the more data we have, the more difficult it is to interpret it. From world leaders to average citizens, everyone is prone to making critical decisions based on poor data interpretations. In Numbersense, expert statistician Kaiser Fung explains when you should accept the conclusions of the Big Data "experts"--and when you should say, "Wait . . . what?" He delves deeply into a wide range of topics, offering the answers to important questions, such as: How does the college ranking system really work? Can an obesity measure solve America''s biggest healthcare crisis? Should you trust current unemployment data issued by the government? How do you improve your fantasy sports team? Should you worry about businesses that track your data? Don''t take for granted statements made in the media, by our leaders, or even by your best friend. We''re on information overload today, and there''s a lot of bad information out there. Numbersense gives you the insight into how Big Data interpretation works--and how it too often doesn''t work. You won''t come away with the skills of a professional statistician. But you will have a keen understanding of the data traps even the best statisticians can fall into, and you''ll trust the mental alarm that goes off in your head when something just doesn''t seem to add up. Praise for Numbersense "Numbersense correctly puts the emphasis not on the size of big data, but on the analysis of it. Lots of fun stories, plenty of lessons learned—in short, a great way to acquire your own sense of numbers!" Thomas H. Davenport, coauthor of Competing on Analytics and President’s Distinguished Professor of IT and Management, Babson College "Kaiser’s accessible business book will blow your mind like no other. You’ll be smarter, and you won’t even realize it. Buy. It. Now." Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist, Google, and author, Web Analytics 2.0 "Each story in Numbersense goes deep into what you have to think about before you trust the numbers. Kaiser Fung ably demonstrates that it takes skill and resourcefulness to make the numbers confess their meaning." John Sall, Executive Vice President, SAS Institute "Kaiser Fung breaks the bad news—a ton more data is no panacea—but then has got your back, revealing the pitfalls of analysis with stimulating stories from the front lines of business, politics, health care, government, and education. The remedy isn’t an advanced degree, nor is it common sense. You need Numbersense." Eric Siegel, founder, Predictive Analytics World, and author, Predictive Analytics "I laughed my way through this superb-useful-fun book and learned and relearned a lot. Highly recommended!" Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence

WHAT ARE THE ODDS YOU''LL WIN THE LOTTERY? How long will your kids wait in line at Disney World? Who decides that “standardized tests” are fair? Why do highway engineers build slow-moving ramps? What does it mean, statistically, to be an “Average Joe”? NUMBERS RULE YOUR WORLD In the popular tradition of eye-opening bestsellers like Freakonomics, The Tipping Point, and Super Crunchers, this fascinating book from renowned statistician and blogger Kaiser Fung takes you inside the hidden world of facts and figures that affect you every day, in every way. These are the statistics that rule your life, your job, your commute, your vacation, your food, your health, your money, and your success. This is how engineers calculate your quality of living, how corporations determine your needs, and how politicians estimate your opinions. These are the numbers you never think about-even though they play a crucial role in every single aspect of your life. What you learn may surprise you, amuse you, or even enrage you. But there''s one thing you won''t be able to deny: Numbers Rule Your World… "An easy read with a big benefit." —Fareed Zakaria, CNN "For those who have anxiety about how organization data-mining is impacting their world, Kaiser Fung pulls back the curtain to reveal the good and the bad of predictive analytics." —Ian Ayres,Yale professor and author of Super Crunchers: Why Thinking By Numbers is the New Way to Be Smart "A book that engages us with stories that a journalist would write, the compelling stories behind the stories as illuminated by the numbers, and the dynamics that the numbers reveal." —John Sall, Executive Vice President, SAS Institute "Little did I suspect, when I picked up Kaiser Fung''s book, that I would become so entranced by it - an illuminating and accessible exploration of the power of statistical analysis for those of us who have no prior training in a field that he explores so ably." —Peter Clarke, author of Keynes: The Rise, Fall, and Return of the 20th Century''s Most Influential Economist "A tremendous book. . . . If you want to understand how to use statistics, how to think with numbers and yet to do this without getting lost in equations, if you''ve been looking for the book to unlock the door to logical thinking about problems, well, you will be pleased to know that you are holding that book in your hands." —Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor, The Times of London "I thoroughly enjoyed this accessible book and enthusiastically recommend it to anyone looking to understand and appreciate the role of statistics and data analysis in solving problems and in creating a better world." —Michael Sherman, Texas A&M University, American Statistician