The Norm Chronicles: Stories and numbers about danger

Review Fascinating ― Daily Mail Published On: 2013-06-14 Helping people make sense of the barrage of confusing (and often misrepresented) statistics that riddle every day is a noble goal. ― Economist Published On: 2013-06-22 A fast-paced, whizz-bang style ― The Times Published On: 2013-06-08 Witty and illuminating, essential reading for anyone wanting to know whether they should try skydiving, or accept that third glass of wine ― Financial Times Published On: 2013-07-13 Accessible yet deep, The Norm Chronicles explains how statistical regularities and irregularities are central to every aspect of our lives. If Jonathan Coe and Gerd Gigerenzer were to collaborate on a sardonic self-help book, this is what it might look like. -- Andrew Gelman, Professor of Statistics and Political Science, Columbia University Product Description Meet Norm. He's 31, 5'9", just over 13 stone, and works a 39 hour week. He likes a drink, doesn't do enough exercise and occasionally treats himself to a bar of chocolate (milk). He's a pretty average kind of guy. In fact, he is the average guy in this clever and unusual take on statistical risk, chance, and how these two factors affect our everyday choices. Watch as Norm (who, like all average specimens, feels himself to be uniquely special), and his friends careful Prudence and reckless Kelvin, turns to statistics to help him in life's endless series of choices - should I fly or take the train? Have a baby? Another drink? Or another sausage? Do a charity skydive or get a lift on a motorbike? Because chance and risk aren't just about numbers - it's about what we believe, who we trust and how we feel about the world around us. From a world expert in risk and the bestselling author of The Tiger That Isn't (and creator of BBC Radio 4's More or Less), this is a commonsense (and wildly entertaining) guide to personal risk and decoding the statistics that represent it. Book Description A far from average book: the real story behind the statistics on risk, chance and choice. Now in paperback. About the Author David Spiegelhalter OBE is Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge. He is a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge and the Royal Society. In 2014 David Spiegelhalter received a knighthood at the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to statistics. Michael Blastland was born in Glasgow. A journalist all his professional life, he started on weekly newspapers before moving to the BBC where he makes current affairs programmes for Radio 4, such as Analysis, More or Less and the historical series Why Did We Do That? He lives in Hertfordshire, often with his daughter Cait, less often and less quietly with his son Joe, when he's at home.