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Title: Best intro to statistics -- ever!
Review: Huff has found a catchy title to lure readers into the dry-sounding but utterly fascinating world of statistics.Packed with examples from the 1950s which seem as fresh as yesterday, this book shows how advertisers and others try to trick us by misusing statistics. "Figures don't lie, but liars figure." could be the unwritten motto of this book. Almost every day I see a Gee Whiz graph which makes something look like it's skyrocketing out of control before I check the scale. Then it turns out that a 5% or 10% bump looks like 600% to 1,000%. The trick is to abuse the visual impact of the graph.A company might cut wages 30%, then later increase them 30% and claim that they have restored the cut. Huff explains why this is actually a 9% pay cut! This is one of many weapons in the statisticulator's arsenal.Huff, aided by Geis's amusing and revealing illustrations, teaches us how to defend ourselves from statistical abuse, by showing us how the tricks are done.
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