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The obsession with quantification, especially in the business world, makes it all the more difficult to discern the measures that matter and the ones we can trust. Boyle argues that our trouble in understanding complex economic and sociological problems is linked to our over reliance on simple statistical explanations.

The Lady Tasting Tea is one of the more painless introductions to statistics I have seen. Rather than taking the readers through the mathematical undergrowth, Salsburg organizes his book around the individuals that created the field. Anecdotes abound. No formulas are to be found. By using a historical narrative, Salsburg illustrates how the field developed-how rivalries and world wars shaped people's careers and how the mundane needs of farmers and pharmacologists led to the creation of a new science. As a result, fields such as law, economics, and even textual analysis have been changed forever. Of course, I can't prove that, but it's probably true. - David S. McIntosh