The Number Bias

How numbers dominate our world and why that's a problem we need to fix

By: Sanne Blauw, Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen

Narrated by: Sophie Roberts

Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Even if you don't consider yourself a numbers person, you are a numbers person. The time has come to put numbers in their place. Not high up on a pedestal, or out on the curb, but right where they belong: beside words.

It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we're doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren't as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this - or use it for their own gain.

Sanne Blauw travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance, from Florence Nightingale using statistics to petition for better conditions during the Crimean War to the manipulation of numbers by the American tobacco industry and the ambiguous figures peddled during the EU referendum. 

Taking us from the everyday numbers that govern our health and wellbeing to the statistics used to wield enormous power and influence, The Number Bias counsels us to think more wisely.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.

©2020 Sanne Blauw (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"A beautifully accessible exploration of how numbers shape our lives and the importance of accurately interpreting the statistics we are fed." (Angela Saini, author of Superior)