Proofiness
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How confident are you in numbers? What if they told you that the population is 5 billion, that a quarter of Americans believe they've been abducted by aliens, or that there are millions of Chinese-speaking Hispanics, when in fact none of these statements are true? In Proofiness, Charles Seife explores the ways in which numbers can mislead and deceive us. He shows how statistics are used not only to inform but also to deceive - sometimes deliberately so - causing us to make bad decisions, misinterpret information, and put our faith (and money) in the wrong places. This is a book that will make you question everything you thought you knew about numbers, and arm you with the mathematical knowledge to spot the spin and deception so prevalent today.