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From Publishers Weekly
Yale Law School professor and econometrician Ayres argues in this lively and enjoyable book that the recent creation of huge data sets allows knowledgeable individuals to make previously impossible predictions. He calls the data set analysts super crunchers and discusses the changes they're making to industries like medical diagnostics, air travel pricing, screenwriting and online dating services. Although Ayres presents both sides of this revolution, explaining how the corporate world tries to manipulate consumer behavior and telling consumers how to fight back, his real mission is to educate readers about the basics of statistics and hypothesis testing, spending most of his time in an edifying and entertaining discussion of the use of regression and randomization trials. He frequently asks whether statistical methods are more accurate than the more intuitive conclusions drawn by experts, and consistently concludes that they are. Ayres skillfully demonstrates the importance that statistical literacy can play in our lives, especially now that technology permits it to occur on a scale never before imagined. (Sept. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"In the past, one could get by on intuition and experience. Times have changed. Today, the name of the game is data. Ian Ayres shows us how and why in this groundbreaking book Super Crunchers. Not only is it fun to read, it just may change the way you think."—Steven D. Levitt, author of Freakonomics
"Data-mining and statistical analysis have suddenly become cool.... Dissecting marketing, politics, and even sports, stuff this complex and important shouldn't be this much fun to read."—Wired
"[Ayres's] thesis is provocative: Complex statistical models could be used to market products more intelligently, craft better movies, and solve health-care problems—if only we could get past our statistics phobia."—Portfolio
"When statistics conflict with expert opinion, bet on statistics....Businesses, consumers, and governments are waking up to the power of analyzing enormous tracts of information."—Discover
"Super Crunchers shows that data-driven decisionmaking is not just revolutionizing baseball and business; it's changing the way that education policy, health care reimbursements, even tax regulations are crafted. Super Crunching is truly reinventing government. Politicians love to tout policy proposals, but they rarely come back and tell you which ones succeeded and which ones failed. Data-driven policy making forces government to ask the bottom line question of 'What works.' That's an approach we can all support."—John Podesta, President of the Center for American Progress
"A lively and yet rigorously careful account of the use of quantitative methods for analysis and decision-making.... Both social scientists and businessmen can profit from this book, while enjoying themselves in the process."—Dr. Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Prize winning economist, and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University
“Ayres’ point is that human beings put far too much faith in their intuition and would often be better off listening to the numbers.... The best stories in the book are about Ayres and other economists he knows, whether they are studying wine, the Supreme Court or jobless benefits.... Ayres himself is one of the [statistical] detectives. He has done fascinating research.”—The New York Times Book Review
"Ian Ayres [is] a law-and-economics guru."—Chronicle of Higher Education
“Lively and enjoyable.... Ayres skillfully demonstrates the importance that statistical literacy can play in our lives, especially now that technology permits it to occur on a scale never before imagined.... Edifying and entertaining."—Publishers Weekly
"Super Crunchers presents a convincing and disturbing vision of a future in which everyday decision-making is increasingly automated, and the role of human judgment restricted to providing input to formulae."—The Economist
"Insightful and delightful!" —Forbes
"Data-mining and statistical analysis have suddenly become cool.... Dissecting marketing, politics, and even sports, stuff this complex and important shouldn't be this much fun to read."—Wired
"[Ayres's] thesis is provocative: Complex statistical models could be used to market products more intelligently, craft better movies, and solve health-care problems—if only we could get past our statistics phobia."—Portfolio
"When statistics conflict with expert opinion, bet on statistics....Businesses, consumers, and governments are waking up to the power of analyzing enormous tracts of information."—Discover
"Super Crunchers shows that data-driven decisionmaking is not just revolutionizing baseball and business; it's changing the way that education policy, health care reimbursements, even tax regulations are crafted. Super Crunching is truly reinventing government. Politicians love to tout policy proposals, but they rarely come back and tell you which ones succeeded and which ones failed. Data-driven policy making forces government to ask the bottom line question of 'What works.' That's an approach we can all support."—John Podesta, President of the Center for American Progress
"A lively and yet rigorously careful account of the use of quantitative methods for analysis and decision-making.... Both social scientists and businessmen can profit from this book, while enjoying themselves in the process."—Dr. Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Prize winning economist, and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University
“Ayres’ point is that human beings put far too much faith in their intuition and would often be better off listening to the numbers.... The best stories in the book are about Ayres and other economists he knows, whether they are studying wine, the Supreme Court or jobless benefits.... Ayres himself is one of the [statistical] detectives. He has done fascinating research.”—The New York Times Book Review
"Ian Ayres [is] a law-and-economics guru."—Chronicle of Higher Education
“Lively and enjoyable.... Ayres skillfully demonstrates the importance that statistical literacy can play in our lives, especially now that technology permits it to occur on a scale never before imagined.... Edifying and entertaining."—Publishers Weekly
"Super Crunchers presents a convincing and disturbing vision of a future in which everyday decision-making is increasingly automated, and the role of human judgment restricted to providing input to formulae."—The Economist
"Insightful and delightful!" —Forbes
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Well-Written Eye-Opener,
By
This review is from: Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart (Hardcover)
The information presented in this book is truly astounding. But when one thinks about it, computers have become so fast and powerful that the manipulation of gigantic databases should come as no surprise - yet a few years ago, this was the subject of science fiction. But what does this mean for the average person? The author of this book very ably explains this by giving many examples of what can now be done with these huge databases. His main thesis is that the statistical analysis of a large amount of data can be used to make predictions that are more accurate than those of human experts who base their opinions on experience and intuition. But in addition, accurate predictions can be made about the behavior, e.g., shopping habits, of particular individuals, once some basic data specific to these individuals is entered into a computer. In other words, these computers can "know" more about us than we know about ourselves! I find this absolutely fascinating. The book is written in a style that is very clear and friendly yet authoritative. It should be of great interest to absolutely everyone.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book!,
By
This review is from: Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way To Be Smart (Paperback)
If you are curious about how things works around you and you like math thinking, you gonna love this book. It is easy to understand. Does not bother you with formulas, just give you the results, which are incredible and counter-intuitive.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well done description of the paradigm shift from historical analysis to real-time, prospective number crunching,
By Fan of Fiction (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart (Hardcover)
Very timely book, with some very good examples how "super chrunching" is already affecting our lives. Even those familiar with the topic may not realize all the new ways statistical number chrunching are being applied. A thoughtul discussion of some of the key issues.I agree with the author's argument that statistical thinking is of increasing importance for all of us. Although the later portion of the book is probably the weakest, as more practical examples of how to hone your skills would have been helpful. For example, moving backwards and forwards to derive a probability of interest from given data is an important concept - but so is making sure you haven't invalidated key assumptions along the way (e.g. normality?). If so, you risk drawing severly erroneous conclusions, which is the antithesis of proper statistical thinking. A worthwhile read.
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