Book Review - Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)

Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell) is a must read for people who are hungry for success. Are you one of them? The book tells us the following interesting stories.

1) Air Crashes are usually not a product of machine malfunction but the culture of the pilots.
2) Asians are better at maths than Westerners but there is a way for Westerners to overcome that.
3) How many QUALITY hours you need to put in to be successful
4) The fields that you choose to pursue your dreams is very important.

The book shows us the pattern to achieving success. It discuss how did Bill Gates, Steve Jobs become successful while others fall off from the track to success. How does the above story tells us about success? Well, grab the book and find out. Want to be on the Track to success? Well, do I need to say more?

I found the book an enjoyable and insightful book, similar to other books by Malcolm Gladwell, Tipping Point and Blink. I grab the book when it was on the shelf but only manage to squeeze the book into my schedule recently. What the book tells us about the track to success can be misinterpreted by many as phooey, but I personally feel that hidden inside, there really lies the secret to success, it will depend very much on the angle you look at discussion.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars as it teaches the track to success. If you have loved his previous books, I strongly encouraged you to grab it.

Book Review - How to Lie with Statistics (Darrell Huff)

How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff is a book for you if you ever have this feeling when you look at a survey results, you are shocked by it. The results are out of your expectations. Or when you look at a certain diagrams, you are shocked by the extent of it. Or you are curious to know the trick behind how marketers, politicians and any other people that uses data, use visual presentation, survey methods and statistical methods to get the desired results they want and 'market' their ideas to you.

It is a very simple to read book, even non-statistician would have enjoyed this book immensely. Aptly describe by the author Darrell Huff, this book is for the laymen to learn some 'self-defense', not to be easily deceived by tricks.

I am a statistician myself and I have benefited greatly from this book. Not that I would use this tricks to deceive people but it opened up another world for me. Yes, being a statistician I am less easily deceived by the survey results published in the newspapers but this book also includes visual presentations as well which statistician might have overlooked its importance.

I strongly recommend this book to all people, so that we can have a better representation of the world and not be easily swayed.

For this book, I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars for its easy reading for both statisticians and non-statisticians. It is a good weekend-reading book.