four stars. I wish it were "required reading" in high school.
This is a book of essays concerning American innumeracy: the
inability of the "average American" to understand logic and
statistics. The author examines and explains puzzles and
paradoxes, and exposes sneeky games politicians play with
numbers in their propaganda.
Published by St. Martin's Griffin, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York,
New York, 10010, in 1996 with 203 pages including index. ISBN
0-312-15627-8 paperback.
The book explores (as read from the cover): "how our minds can work against us," "how numbers and statistics can mislead," and "how politicians exploit our innocence." Savant explores, in exacting detail, the solution to the "Monty Hall Dilemma," and answers her critics objections (all of them false) to her correct solution. She explains what "average" is (either mean, median, or mode), and takes a brief jaunt through proper (i.e. valid) logic.
The most enlightening part of the book is where Savant examines the 1992 Presidential (USA) race. There we discover that noone was telling us the truth, but they didn't exactly come right out and lie, but lied anyhow (this paradox / contradiction will make sense to anyone who's ever heard a politician speak). Slippery bastards, every one.
On the Shy David Book Review Scale from one to six stars (six
being best), I think this book deserves
four stars. I wish it were "required reading" in high school.
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