The Signal and the Noise: The Art and Science of Prediction

Nate Silver

Penguin Books Limited, Sep 27, 2012 - Mathematics - 544 pages

The International Bestseller by 'The Galileo of number crunchers' (Independent)

Every time we choose a route to work, decide whether to go on a second date, or set aside money for a rainy day, we are making a prediction about the future. Yet from the financial crisis to ecological disasters, we routinely fail to foresee hugely significant events, often at great cost to society. The rise of 'big data' has the potential to help us predict the future, yet much of it is misleading, useless or distracting.

In The Signal and the Noise, the New York Times political forecaster Nate Silver, who accurately predicted the results of every state in the 2012 US election, reveals how we can all develop better foresight in an uncertain world. From the stock market to the poker table, from earthquakes to the economy, he takes us on an enthralling insider's tour of the high-stakes world of forecasting, showing how we can all learn to detect the true signals amid a noise of data.

'Remarkable and rewarding' Matthew D'Ancona, Sunday Telegraph

'A lucid explanation of how to think probabilistically' Guardian

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - dhmontgomery - LibraryThing

My only real concern about this book is that it reinforced what I already believed — something I've long held warrants increased skepticism. Silver would likely agree. If you take anything away from ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - PDCRead - LibraryThing

In this modern complex world, being able to predict the future is an art, but Nate Silver has been one of the few who has taken these black arts from art to science. His credentials include baseball ...

About the author

Nate Silver is a statistician and political forecaster at The New York Times who became a national sensation in the United States when his predictions during the 2008 presidential election trumped most mainstream polls. He is a contributor to The New York Times Magazine and has appeared as a commentator on CNN and MSNBC. He has spoken at TED and SXSW, and was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the world.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Signal and the Noise: The Art and Science of Prediction
• Author: Nate Silver
• Publisher: Penguin Books Limited, 2012
• ISBN: 1846147530, 9781846147531
• Length: 544 pages
• Subjects: Mathematics / Applied; Mathematics / General; Mathematics / Probability & Statistics / Bayesian Analysis; Mathematics / Probability & Statistics / General