The Signal and the Noise

Obviously, we hear everywhere about the data revolution. For most of us, it is difficult to understand why it is possible to extract large amounts of intelligence from data. Nate Silver's book is extraordinary in that it illustrates with great simplicity how statistics can work miracles and help us better understand our world.

In fact, this book is not about Big data or technology, but about statistics. How can we better predict elections, the weather, the behaviour of teammates in baseball, and countless other scenarios? When we close this book, we will understand that if the data is available, the ability to interpret it is also available. We will also understand how intelligence and analysis will be central in the world that is coming. We will be surprised to wonder why, under the appearance of rationality, many decisions are in fact made despite common sense. If there is an essay to recommend for the summer, or even for the fall, it would be this one. In the United States, the book has climbed to the top 12 of Amazon's essay sales, which is no small feat...