The Strunk & White of statistics team up to help the average person navigate the numbers in the news. Drawing on their hugely popular BBC Radio 4 show "More or Less, ," journalist Michael Blastland and internationally known economist Andrew Dilnot delight, amuse, and convert American mathphobes by showing how our everyday experiences make sense of numbers. In each concise chapter, the authors take on a different themesuch as size, chance, averages, targets, risk, measurement, and dataand present it as a memorable and entertaining story. If youve ever wondered what average? really means, whether the scare stories about cancer risk should convince you to change your behavior, or whether a story you read in the paper is biased (and how), you need this book. Blastland and Dilnot show how to survive and thrive on the torrent of numbers that pours through everyday life. It's the essential guide to every cause you love or hate, and every issue you follow, in the language everyone uses.