The Tiger That Isn't
Seeing Through a World of Numbers
1st Edition
Published on 9. July 2010
237 pages
978-1-84765-079-5 (ISBN)
Description
Mathematics scares and depresses most of us, but politicians, journalists and everyone in power use numbers all the time to bamboozle us. Most maths is really simple - as easy as 2+2 in fact. Better still it can be understood without any jargon, any formulas - and in fact not even many numbers. Most of it is commonsense, and by using a few really simple principles one can quickly see when maths, statistics and numbers are being abused to play tricks - or create policies - which can waste millions of pounds. It is liberating to understand when numbers are telling the truth or being used to lie, whether it is health scares, the costs of government policies, the supposed risks of certain activities or the real burden of taxes.
Reviews / Votes
A very funny book...this is one of those maths books that claims to be self-help, and on the evidence presented here, we are in dire need of it... * Daily Telegraph * This very elegant book constantly sparks "Aha!" moments as it interrogates the way numbers are handled and mishandled by politicians and the media. * Guardian * If every politician and journalist were required to read this engaging and eye opening book before embarking on their career, we would live in a wiser, better, governed world. -- Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, Royal Society of ArtsAll prices
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Reflowable
ISBN-13
978-1-84765-079-5 (9781847650795)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2008
Profile Books Ltd
€15.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
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.
Andrew Dilnot is Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford and former director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
Andrew Dilnot is Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford and former director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
