Searching for Patterns

Data mining is about finding patterns hidden inside data. It's how the supermarket knows when your kids leave home or when your granny comes to visit; it's how the credit card company detects fraud and how your insurance company decides whether to cover you. Searching For Patterns guides you through the techniques used to do this and the people behind them, in an easily accessible and entertaining way. Data mining is mathematical, but all the maths in this book has been kept separate from the main text, so you can skip it if you want. Data mining technologies have a wide range of applications from an online bookseller recommending a new book to an existing customer, to an autopilot flying a plane. The book does not shy away from the complexities involved, but explains them in a straightforward and understandable fashion. Search for Patterns guides us through the tools and techniques that can be used to get to know things about people without having to ask. Also included is a review of the ethics involved in data mining.