Not directly Fortean but Forteans could do with reading this book.
How to Make the World Add Up by Tim Harford.
Host of the BBC Radio 4 regular series More or Less*, Harford is an economist by training and a regular columnist for the Financial Times.
Bored yet? Don't be. He's been drawn into the world of statistics, statisticians and data; gathering, presentation, interpretation.
In this book, he appeals to anyone - those not mathematically-inclined, those uninterested in economics, those only mildly interested when some wonk declares "Such-and-such proves said thing is proved by the data!" This book isn't about statistics but how to look at them.
We've all heard of the old saw concerning "Lies, damn lies, and statistics". We've always been told to be suspicious of statistics. But until now, no one has said how to be suspicious of them. We know some figures don't lie; should we disbelieve them all?
Harford makes things easy. He doesn't say believe all nor does he say dismiss all; he suggests ways of looking at presented data and asking questions about it. From "Does it appeal to you emotionally?", though "Does this mesh with personal experience?" to "Keep an open mind", the book gives great examples and anecdotes of why statistics are important and the hazards of just dismissing them as a branch of propaganda.
Yes, statistics can be used to lie but, like the idea goes, the lie can show truth. You just need to be curious, ask questions. This book, simplistic and wonderfully written, suggests what questions to ask and what you're asking them for.
How to Make the World Add Up; author Tim Harford;
Published by The Bridge Street Press, 2020. £9.99 (PB), 340 pp. ISBN: 978-0-349-14386-6.
*An excellent radio programme, interesting and easy to follow without being dumbed-down. Listen Again and podcasts available.