The Signal And the Noise

Of course we hear everywhere about the data revolution. For most of us, it is difficult to really understand why it is possible to extract large amounts of intelligence from data. Nate Silver is extraordinary in that he illustrates with particular simplicity how statistics can work miracles and help us understand our world better. In fact, this book is not about Bigdata or technology, but statistics. How can we better predict elections, the weather, the behavior 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 also understand how intelligence and analysis will be central in the world to come. One will be surprised to wonder why, under the guise of rationality, many decisions are in fact taken in spite of common sense. If there is one essay to recommend for the summer, or even for the fall, it would be this one.