Reckoning with risk : learning to live with uncertainty

In the beginning of the 20th century, the father of modern science fiction, H.G.

Wells, predicted that statistical thinking would be as necessary for citizenship in a technological world as the ability to read and write.

Yet, a century on, most of us, from TV weather forecasters to the American President, seem to have no idea of how to reason about uncertainties.This volume offers a treatment for the "disease" of statistical illiteracy.

Aimed at helping us understand risks in the real world, it shows how a proper understanding of uncertainties can make the difference between hope and despair.