The Signal: A Novel Audiobook

" I wanted to like this book as I enjoy reading Silver's blog. The majority of chapters in this book are inferior rehashes of arguments and anecdotes from other authors. See Moneyball, the Information, Fortune's Formula, A Random Walk, The Theory of Poker etc. etc. The book is clearly intended to capitalize on the popularity of his 538 blog, which as John Cassidy of the New Yorker just articulated overemphasizes the use of Monte-Carlo simulations to come up with inanely precise projections of a tenth of a point of who will win the Presidential election. While heuristics and Monte-Carlo style simulations may provide details given the parameters included in the model; Silver's assumptions about the usefullness of one poll over another; and the averaging of prediction markets generally reach similar conclusions to what basic common sense would dictate. I happen to believe just as some people inevitably beat the market by looking at past historical data without actual acumen, Silver's model seems to have been successful. The self-aggrandizing by Silver of his own skill at Poker, political forecasting, sports betting etc, seems to belie his own understanding of Bayesian theory and at times reach nauseating levels. I don't care to know his own personal income from limit poker or his player tracking system used by baseball prospectus. The books dabbles in many areas and is truly compelling in none of them. While not an awful book, a curious reader would be better served by reading separate books on area's of interest including book's that offer a stronger statistical background and less "pop culture" examples. I do not recommend this book to anyone. "

" Brilliant. An antidote for all the bias, baloney and superstition that are ubiquitous even in so-called "educated" societies like the U.S. This antidote should be ingested by all, especially politicians! "

" After hearing Nate Silver speak on some sports podcasts that I listen to I thought he seemed like an interesting guy. After he basically predicting everything in the 2012 elections I learned that he is not only interesting but also awesome. Read this book if you want to improve the way you think about everything. Yes, everything. "

" Dipped into a few pages and know I will enjoy this. Will be doing a lot of highlighting for future refence. "

" Why does a good book on statistics always have too much baseball in it? I had to quit. Too depressing to think of baseball and politics as the same game. "

" Silver could use a new editor. The book was about 200 pages too long, very repetitive, and I was shocked at how little I learned from it. He tells lots of stories about prediction but teaches very little about it. "

" Many of the concepts discussed in the book are usually covered in a collegiate level statistics course. Although, I was a bit rusty. However, Silver does apply them to unique, yet practical, situations (opposed to "Freakonomics" which I find to be silly). The writing is engaging and captivating. "

" Good overall message, enjoyable read. Interesting ode to Bayesian statistics - it will be interesting to see if we see this line of thinking emerge more in the sciences in time to come. "

" Excellent book by the US's premier "forecaster" who got both the 2008 and 2012 elections nearly exactly correct. Raises some great points about statistics & forecasting "

" Glad I didn't judge the book solely on the intro. Started out unpleasantly choppy but then he switched on the smooveness for the remainder. "

" Very readable. Silver gives a bit of a tour de force of the art and science of prediction, covering cases where it's done well and done poorly, and considering how we can do it more effectively. "

" Not as technical as I was hoping, but still worth reading---more entertaining than educational. A basic primer to thinking probabilistically and case examples through history of that happening (or not), rather similar in style to how Malcolm Gladwell writes. "

" Disorganized a bit too heavy for my tastes. "

" Interesting read, but sometimes a bit dry. "

" Money Ball and its foundations. Statistics and how to use them, along with the pitfalls. Great, practical book for all interested in the numbers. "

" I appreciate how Silver uses a multitude of real-life examples to explain probability and forecasting. Way too many typographic errors for a book that costs $27.95 - did this book have a proofreader? "