The Numerati

As a graduate student in the social sciences studying human behavior, I often struggle to communicate what it is that I do to others in an approachable way. In other words, how do I convey to people how I go from the math/statistics I spend all day working with to the concepts/phenomena I am presumably actually studying? Baker does this for me. The next time I get a quizzical look at a cocktail party I am just going to refer the person to this book and move on to talking about sports.

As others have pointed out, this book is a comprehensible not comprehensive review of what it is that the numerati are actually involved in. It's strengths are it it's ability to illustrate the doors that are being unlocked and the conclusions that can be drawn from massive data analysis.

But it does more than that. It seems that the numerati spend more time thinking in equations than they do in implications. Baker pulls the potential consequences of our not so private but data rich lives into the larger dialogue of marketing, politics, healthcare, etc. Baker forces us (and hopefully some of the numerati) to examine the potential outcomes of looking at all this information. This book really makes you think about the ethics and theory behind large scale unprotected data analysis. Sure a company/website may guarantee that they will never "sell" your information to anyone else, but what are THEY going to do with it? And that isn't even accounting for all the information they are collecting without your knowledge.

What the numerati need to realize is that they are no longer only working in the math field; they have entered into the domain of philosophy. The thing is though, philosophical questions can't be solved with a proof. Baker is keen to this and his book is a welcome introduction to these issues.

I became interested in this book after reading the companion cover story in BusinessWeek. Although the stories and interviews were interesting, I thought the book fell short on connecting the math beyond the most basic concepts.

Baker admits he was a liberal arts major in college and doesn't pretend to fully understand the math behind the analysis. Obviously, an in-depth mathematical discussion would have been beyond the grasp of most readers and presumably the author. However, a little more detail on the methodologies beyond the simplistic descriptions would have given the book more substance and utility.

Data Mining and Data Warehousing have been around for many years. Retailers have used it extensively to understand their customers. Yet, Baker fails to discuss these established practices and compare them with this new emerging area.

Baker spends most of his book describing the people he interviews in a series of stories. The book is an easy read and is entertaining. If you read for entertainment and are interested in this subject, you will probably like this book. However, if you read for knowledge and are looking for a good, informative business book on this subject, it may disappoint you.

The Numerati by Steve Baker really gets one thinking about the power of the data trails that we leave behind us at every step and click. While I started to get a bit paranoid reading "The Worker" chapter, I was hopeful during "The Patient" chapter and finished the book with a smile reading "The Lover" chapter. (The other chapters were engaging as well.)

This was a very readable, informative and enjoyable book. It provides plenty of interesting -- even poignant -- anecdotes AND hard facts. Steve Baker explains the math and numbers aspect of what is happening all around us with clarity and humor. (Love the spitball story.)

As the chief marketing officer of Fair Isaac, I work daily with many of the Numerati that Stephen Baker so elegantly describes. However, I do not subscribe to the idea that all quantification and normalization of consumer data carries a nefarious purpose. Indeed, the societal value and impact of a given technology is generally determined by how this technology is applied and not by the technology itself.

As an example, Fair Isaac applies statistical analysis to the granting and administration of loans by establishing a standard credit scoring service (www.myfico.com). This quantitative approach, as pointed out by Stephen Baker, enables equal opportunity banking by not discriminating on the basis of anything but numbers. Another benefit is the empowerment of consumers who can now directly monitor the health of their credit by subscribing to this service. It may even entice someone to go on a credit diet!

In a global and connected economy the usage of well designed algorithms applied across vast data sets can help greatly in improving transparency and accountability.

I picked up this book after reading a review for it in the Economist. It was an enjoyable read, though i wish that it got more specific at times. Would recommend to anyone that wants to put a toe in the world of data mining.