Brian W. Kernighan is Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. His research covers programming languages/compilers, security/privacy, and security/policy. His most recent publication is Understanding the Digital World: What You Need to Know About Computers, the Internet, and Security (Princeton, 2017). Notable works include AMPL: A Modeling Language for Mathematical Programming (with D. Gay and R. Fourer) (Cengage, 2002).
This sophisticated, rich, and accessible book walks us through something we all need but are almost never taught: number sense. The reader is left with real skills and confidence about understanding and interpreting numbers, probabilities, graphics, and much more. Brian Kernighan has done a great service by offering tools that will help all of us become more informed citizens, patients, parents, and news consumers--and better bullshit detectors. --Zeynep Tufekci, contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and author of Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest The indispensable guide to numerical trickery, deception, and flimflam! --Harry Lewis, coauthor of Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness after the Digital Explosion A delightful introduction to an important topic, this book will appeal to far more than technical readers and could become a classic. --Jon Bentley, retired Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, Bell Labs Research