18.212 book on Turning Numbers into Knowledge

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 18, No. 212.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                   www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                        www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                     Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

         Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 07:14:55 +0100
         From: Jonathan Koomey <jgkoomey_at_numbersintoknowledge.com>
         Subject: Turning Numbers into Knowledge, now in its 2d printing,
Sept. 2004

Members of the critical thinking group may find my latest book, Turning
Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving, of
interest. I originally wrote the book because I kept having to explain
the tricks of the trade to young analysts I was hiring at Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory. Some of the material will be old hat to those on this
email list, but I suspect large parts of the book will be useful to most on
the list. It covers the basics of the scientific method, the importance of
peer review, the critical distinction between facts and values, the value
of informed skepticism about facts and figures, the skills needed
to understand the claims of others, key tricks for doing back of the
envelope calculations, the value of clear and complete documentation, and
rules for making good tables and graphs. It even has a chapter describing
critical thinking and why it is important. I no longer need to explain
these items to young researchers and students--I can just hand people the
book, which is an immense time saver.

The writing style is for a more popular audience than
most books of this type, with short chapters, cartoons, quotations, and
other funny graphics. It is useful for managers of technical people,
government and business decision makers, journalists, researchers,
consultants, and members of the public who take
an intelligent interest in how the world works. It's been used
successfully to teach training classes at the Global Business Network, IBM,
UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Georgetown University, Rochester
Institute of Technology, Allegheny College, Ohio University Business
College, Sonoma State University, JFK University (Orinda, CA), College of
the Redwoods, DUXX Escuela de Graduados en Liderazgo Empresarial, S.C.
(Mexico), and elsewhere.

The book is now entering its 2d printing (Sept 2004) and is being
translated into Chinese.

For more details, sample chapters, and reviews, go to
<http://www.numbersintoknowledge.com>http://www.numbersintoknowledge.com
and <http://www.analyticspress.com/>http://www.analyticspress.com/
The Amazon.com page for the book has additional reviews.

Feel free to email me with questions or comments.

JGKoomey_at_numbersintoknowledge.com

Jonathan Koomey, Ph.D.
<http://enduse.lbl.gov/bios/jonathan.html>http://enduse.lbl.gov/bios/jonathan.html

The table of contents follows:

INTRODUCTION - THE INFORMATION EXPLOSION

PART I - THINGS TO KNOW

Beginner's mind
Don't be intimidated
Information, intention, and action
Peer review and scientific discovery

PART II - BE PREPARED

Explore your ideology
Get organized
Establish a filing system
Build a toolbox
Put facts at your fingertips
Value your time

PART III - ASSESS THEIR ANALYSIS

The power of critical thinking
Numbers aren't everything
All numbers are not created equal
Question authority
How guesses become facts
Don't believe everything you
Go back to the questions
Reading tables and graphs
Distinguish facts from values
The uncertainty principle and the mass media

PART IV - CREATE YOUR ANALYSIS

Reflect
Get unstuck
Inquire
Be a detective
Create consistent comparisons
Tell a good story
Dig into the numbers
Make a model
Reuse old envelopes
Use forecasts with care
Hear all sides

PART V - SHOW YOUR STUFF

Know your audience
Document, document, document
Let the tables and graphs do the work
Create compelling graphs and figures
Create good tables
Use numbers effectively in oral presentations
Use the Internet

CONCLUSION - CREATING THE FUTURE

FURTHER READING
______________________________
Jonathan G. Koomey, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (currently on leave)
Consulting Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University
P.O. Box 20313
Oakland, CA 94620
510-547-7860 Work/fax
510-654-9634 Home
510-708-1970 Cell
jgkoomey_at_stanford.edu
numbers_at_numbersintoknowledge.com
<http://www.numbersintoknowledge.com>http://www.numbersintoknowledge.com
http://www.analyticspress.com/
<http://enduse.lbl.gov/bios/jonathan.html>http://enduse.lbl.gov/bios/jonathan.html
Received on Wed Sep 15 2004 - 03:19:38 EDT