100 Best Statistics Books of All Time

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was.

The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from t

Recommended by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and 18 others.

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

From the book "The Everything Store: and the Age of Amazon" “The scholar argues that people are wired to see patterns in chaos while remaining blind to unpredictable events, with massive consequences. Experimentation and empiricism trumps the easy and obvious narrative,” Stone writes. [source]

Founder/StockPickr

And throw in “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness”. “Fragile” means if you hit something might break. “Resilient” means if you hit something, it will stay the same. On my podcast Nassim discusses “Antifragility” – building a system, even on that works for you on a personal level, where you if you harm your self in some way it becomes stronger. That podcast changed my life He discusses Antifragility throughout history, up to our current economic situation, and even in our personal situations. [source]

3

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Steven D. Levitt

5.0

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven

Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Daymond John, Ev Williams, and 12 others.

Malcolm Gladwell

Writer & Journalist

I don’t need to say much here. This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining. [source]

Daymond John

Founder/FUBU

I love newer books like this book. [source]

Founder/StockPickr

James Altucher recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

4

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Hans Rosling

4.9

Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts.

When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently o

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Aidan Connolly, and 6 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. [source]

CEO/Microsoft

This was a breakthrough to me. The framework Hans enunciates is one that took me decades of working in global development to create for myself, and I could have never expressed it in such a clear way. I’m going to try to use this model moving forward. [source]

Aidan Connolly

I would suggest Hans Rosling’s Factfulness on the real world of statistics. [source]

5

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't

Nate Silver

4.9

One of Wall Street Journal's Best Ten Works of Nonfiction in 2012

New York Times Bestseller

"Not so different in spirit from the way public intellectuals like John Kenneth Galbraith once shaped discussions of economic policy and public figures like Walter Cronkite helped sway opinion on the Vietnam War…could turn out to be one of the more momentous books of the decade."
-New York Times Book Review

"Na

Recommended by Bill Gates.

CEO/Microsoft

Anyone interested in politics may be attracted to Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—but Some Don't. Silver is the New York Times columnist who got a lot of attention last fall for predicting—accurately, as it turned out–the results of the U.S. presidential election. This book actually came out before the election, though, and it’s about predictions in many domains besides politics. Silver knows a lot about baseball, and I especially liked his explanation of hold’em poker. A few pages – where he talks about how early computers supposedly made everything less efficient—are utter nonsense. I wish he had gone into more depth on some things, like why it is that voters are increasingly polarized. I liked the book, though I wish he’d gone deeper on a number of topics. [source]

6

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.9

Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, and The Bed of Procrustes.

Now in a striking new hardcover edition, Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth se

Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Ev Williams, James Altucher, and 6 others.

Founder/StockPickr

And throw in “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness”. “Fragile” means if you hit something might break. “Resilient” means if you hit something, it will stay the same. On my podcast Nassim discusses “Antifragility” – building a system, even on that works for you on a personal level, where you if you harm your self in some way it becomes stronger. That podcast changed my life He discusses Antifragility throughout history, up to our current economic situation, and even in our personal situations. [source]

Anant Jain

The five-book series, "Incerto", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb has had a profound impact on how I think about the world. There’s some overlap across the books — but you'll likely find the repetition helpful in retaining the content better. [source]

Art De Vany

I used this book is a class I taught on the economics of uncertainty. [source]

7

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

4.8

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their

Recommended by Bill Gates, Charles T. Munger, Charlie Munger, and 18 others.

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Founder/StockPickr

Gladwell is not the first person to come up with the 10,000 hour rule. Nor is he the first person to document what it takes to become the best in the world at something. But his stories are so great as he explains these deep concepts. How did the Beatles become the best? Why are professional hockey players born in January, February and March? And so on. [source]

Alex Circei

Question: What five books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path & why? Answer: Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons In Life by Richard Branson Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki [source]

8

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Michael Lewis

4.8

Moneyball is a quest for something as elusive as the Holy Grail, something that money apparently can't buy: the secret of success in baseball. The logical places to look would be the front offices of major league teams and the dugouts, perhaps even in the minds of the players themselves. Michael Lewis mines all these possibilities - his intimate and original portraits of big league ballplayers are

Recommended by Ev Williams, Azeem Azhar, Carol Dweck, and 5 others.

Carol Dweck

You would think that the relationship between training and skill would be utterly obvious in sports, but apparently it isn’t. [source]

Daniel Hamermesh

What the book is really about is a guy who is using some econometrics to predict which players will do better in advancing wins, which is a remarkable use of economic thinking. [source]

David Papineau

It’s a parable of the disinclination of people in general to base their practices on evidence, a parable for evidence-based policy in general. [source]

9

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

4.8

Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ev Williams, and 45 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. [source]

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? [source]

Cover unavailable

10

An Introduction to Statistical Learning: With Applications in R

Gareth James, Daniela Witten, Trevor Hastie, Robert Tibshirani

4.6

An Introduction to Statistical Learning provides an accessible overview of the field of statistical learning, an essential toolset for making sense of the vast and complex data sets that have emerged in fields ranging from biology to finance to marketing to astrophysics in the past twenty years. This book presents some of the most important modeling and prediction techniques, along with relevant a

Recommended by Roger D. Peng.

Roger D. Peng

This book is written by a powerhouse of authors in the machine learning community, true authorities in the field. But beyond that, they’re also great writers. [source]

11

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner

4.6

A New York Times Bestseller

An Economist Best Book of 2015

"The most important book on decision making since Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow."
—Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal

Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week’s meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be terrible foreca

Recommended by Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, Julia Galef, and 1 others.

Julia Galef

Has some good advice on how to improve your ability to make accurate predictions. [source]

Sheil Kapadia

Read the book Superforecasting, had a great conversation with @bcmassey and came up with seven ideas for how NFL teams can try to find small edges during the draft process. Would love to hear feedback on this one. https://t.co/PdN1fKCagl [source]

12

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

Cathy O'Neil

4.6

Longlisted for the National Book Award
New York Times Bestseller

A former Wall Street quant sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life -- and threaten to rip apart our social fabric

We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives--where we go to school, whether we get a car loan, how much we pay for health insurance--are being made not

Recommended by Paula Boddington and Ramesh Srinivasan.

Paula Boddington

How the use of algorithms has affected people’s lives and occasionally ruined them. [source]

Ramesh Srinivasan

This book is a really fantastic analysis of how quantification, the collection of data, the modelling around data, the predictions made by using data, the algorithmic and quantifiable ways of predicting behaviour based on data, are all built by elites for elites and end up, quite frankly, screwing over everybody else. [source]

13

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Edward R. Tufte

4.6

The classic book on statistical graphics, charts, tables. Theory and practice in the design of data graphics, 250 illustrations of the best (and a few of the worst) statistical graphics, with detailed analysis of how to display data for precise, effective, quick analysis. Design of the high-resolution displays, small multiples. Editing and improving graphics. The data-ink ratio. Time-series, relat

Recommended by Bret Victor and Michael Okuda.

Michael Okuda

Edward Tufte's classic book, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information is a fascinating, surprisingly readable treatise for anyone interested in infographics. When I hired artists for the Star Trek graphics dept, I sometimes asked them to read it.https://t.co/cK4GQqBDxp [source]

14

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.5

From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder.

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem; in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what he calls the "antifragile"

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen, and 20 others.

Founder/StockPickr

You ask about success. To be successful you have to avoid being “fragile” – the idea that if something hurts you, you let collapse completely. You also have to avoid simply being resilient. Bouncing back is not enough. Antifragile is when something tries to hurt you and you come back stronger. That is real life business. That is real life success. Nassim focuses on the economy. But when I read the book I kept asking myself, “how can I apply this to the areas of my life where I feel most fragile?” [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Vlad Tenev

The general concept is applicable to many fields beyond biology, for instance finance, economics and monetary policy. [source]

15

The Elements of Statistical Learning: Data Mining, Inference, and Prediction

Trevor Hastie, Robert Tibshirani, Jerome Friedman

4.5

During the past decade there has been an explosion in computation and information technology. With it have come vast amounts of data in a variety of fields such as medicine, biology, finance, and marketing. The challenge of understanding these data has led to the development of new tools in the field of statistics, and spawned new areas such as data mining, machine learning, and bioinformatics. Ma

Recommended by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Author

Very comprehensive, sufficiently technical to get most of the plumbing behind machine learning. Very useful as a reference book (actually, there is no other complete reference book). The authors are the real thing (Tibshirani is the one behind the LASSO regularization technique). Uses some mathematical statistics without the burdens of measure theory and avoids the obvious but complicated proofs. I own two copies of this edition, one for the office, one for my house, and the authors generously provide the PDF for travelers like me. [source]

16

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

4.5

An alternate cover edition exists here.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller,

Recommended by Ev Williams, Kevin Rose, Simon Sinek, and 21 others.

Kevin Rose

Co-founder/Digg

Bunch of really good information in here on how to make ideas go viral. This could be good to apply to any kind of products or ideas you may have. Definitely, check out The Tipping Point, which is one of my favorites. [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start. [source]

Andy Stern

I think that when we talk about making change, it is much more about macro change, like in policy. This book reminds you that at times when you're building big movements, or trying to elect significant decision-makers in politics, sometimes it's the little things that make a difference. Ever since the book was written, we've become very used to the idea of things going viral unexpectedly and then having massive impact. The Tipping Point, to me, is really an appreciation that very small things can rearrange thinking in ways – like infectious diseases – that have huge implications. While we're always searching for the big policy changes – and we think we have to do that in very traditional ways of building coalitions against constituencies, movements and the media – sometimes it's the little things that actually tip the situation. Like the story of a person and their unique set of circumstances that really captures an issue about health care or housing. So it's trying to remember, while you're thinking about the grand and the glorious, that thinking about the small things can equally bring about change. [source]

17

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Caroline Criado Perez

4.5

Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognised or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you're a woman.

Invisible Women shows us how, in a world largely built fo

Recommended by Adam Wagner, Asher Wolf, Caitlin Moran, and 9 others.

Adam Wagner

@CCriadoPerez @MumsnetTowers I love this - the book, Poppy, the mug - it's so well composed! [source]

Asher Wolf

Tell me your best thing today. Mine was an amazing book and greeting card arrived in the post from the wonderful @MmeEmmeline https://t.co/GpEs2lg037 [source]

Caitlin Moran

@CCriadoPerez mate, I bow in admiration. it's an AMAZING, game-changing book. [source]

18

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

Leonard Mlodinow

4.4

Recommended by David Spiegelhalter and Gabriel Coarna.

David Spiegelhalter

This is a general introduction to the history of probability and the way it comes into everyday life. It intersperses the historical development with modern applications, and looks at finance, sport, gambling, lotteries and coincidences. [source]

Gabriel Coarna

Leonard Mlodinow's "The Drunkarkd's Walk" -more precisely, the section on the "Monty Hall" problem- totally changed how I look-at/think-about probabilities and choices in general; this has impacted almost every real-life choice I've made since I read this book. [source]

19

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

Steven D. Levitt

4.4

The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.

Four years in the making, SuperFre

Recommended by Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, Daymond John, and 2 others.

CEO/Microsoft

I recommend this book to anyone who reads nonfiction. It is very well written and full of great insights. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

Keith Slotter

These two gentlemen wrote the first book several years ago and SuperFreakonomics just came out. The books are very interesting on crime theory. Their theories are controversial. For example, they link a decrease in crime to the legalisation of abortion. In a nutshell they say that abortion stopped a whole new generation of criminals from being born. And that is because they say abortion is most prominent among the lowest class people. That is, of course, not a politically correct statement to make, but when you go through their numbers and what they have done, sadly there rings a strong sound of truth in their argument. So, I would encourage anyone with an open mind to read these books and give it some thought. Read 4 The Cell by John Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell Read [source]

20

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

4.4

Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are a

Recommended by Max Levchin, Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, and 22 others.

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?" [source]

Andra Zaharia

'While I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read … Predictably Irrational. [source]

Chris Goward

Here are some of the books that have been very impactful for me, or taught me a new way of thinking: … Predictably Irrational. [source]

21

The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect

Judea Pearl

4.4

A Turing Award-winning computer scientist and statistician shows how understanding causality has revolutionized science and will revolutionize artificial intelligence
"Correlation is not causation." This mantra, chanted by scientists for more than a century, has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. Today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, instigated by Judea Pearl and his colleag

Recommended by D.a. Wallach and Kirk Borne.

D.a. Wallach

@EricTopol @yudapearl @bschoelkopf @MPI_IS I love @yudapearl 's book so much! Profound, heterodox. [source]

Kirk Borne

.@yudapearl wrote the awesome "Book of Why", but he recommends this fun and less #mathematics-heavy read >> his #AI lecture given in 1999: https://t.co/kNYIoJ8qcY #DataScience #MachineLearning #Statistics #BookofWhy #Causalinference #Bayes https://t.co/CNQlKP8cU3 [source]

22

The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data

David Spiegelhalter

4.4

The definitive guide to statistical thinking
Statistics are everywhere, as integral to science as they are to business, and in the popular media hundreds of times a day. In this age of big data, a basic grasp of statistical literacy is more important than ever if we want to separate the fact from the fiction, the ostentatious embellishments from the raw evidence -- and even more so if we hope to pa

Recommended by Dan Davies.

Dan Davies

@amoralelite @d_spiegel It's a great book. I thought it was like coming home because I've always tried to avoid calculation due to the dyspraxia and it was just "yes, that's how you think about it" [source]

23

The Cartoon Guide to Statistics

Larry Gonick

4.4

Updated version featuring all new material.

If you have ever looked for P-values by shopping at P mart, tried to watch the Bernoulli Trails on "People's Court," or think that the standard deviation is a criminal offense in six states, then you need The Cartoon Guide to Statistics to put you on the road to statistical literacy.

The Cartoon Guide to Statistics covers all the central ideas of modern s

24

How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of "Intangibles" in Business

Douglas W. Hubbard

4.3

Praise for How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business

"I love this book. Douglas Hubbard helps us create a path to know the answer to almost any question in business, in science, or in life . . . Hubbard helps us by showing us that when we seek metrics to solve problems, we are really trying to know something better than we know it now. How to Measure Anything provides j

Recommended by Julia Galef and Nick Ganju.

Julia Galef

Has some good advice on how to improve your ability to make accurate predictions. [source]

Nick Ganju

About being outcome-based and getting these measurable outcomes. [source]

Cover unavailable

25

Doing Bayesian Data Analysis: A Tutorial Introduction with R

John K. Kruschke

4.3

There is an explosion of interest in Bayesian statistics, primarily because recently created computational methods have finally made Bayesian analysis tractable and accessible to a wide audience. Doing Bayesian Data Analysis, A Tutorial Introduction with R and BUGS, is for first year graduate students or advanced undergraduates and provides an accessible approach, as all mathematics is explained i

26

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

4.3

Foreword by Steven Pinker

Blending the informed analysis of The Signal and the Noise with the instructive iconoclasm of Think Like a Freak, a fascinating, illuminating, and witty look at what the vast amounts of information now instantly available to us reveals about ourselves and our world—provided we ask the right questions.

By the end of an average day in the early twenty-first century, human bei

Recommended by Jj. Omojuwa and Ron Fournier.

Jj. Omojuwa

@SympLySimi Lol. Read this book. You’d love it. https://t.co/d2cLOyoiZ9 [source]

Ron Fournier

Just finished, “Everybody Lies” by @SethS_D, which in addition to being a tremendous education on Big Data, includes the best conclusion to a non-fiction book I’ve ever read. Read it. -30- [source]

27

Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill

4.3

One of the most popular personal development and self-improvement books of all time, Think and Grow Rich has sold over 100 million copies worldwide since its first publication during the Great Depression. In this hardcover edition, Napoleon Hill presents a "Philosophy of Achievement" in 13 principles drawn from the success stories of such greats as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and o

Recommended by Tony Robbins, Daymond John, John C. Maxwell, and 23 others.

Daymond John

Founder/FUBU

The main takeaway from this book was goal-setting. It was the fact that if you don't set a specific goal, then how can you expect to hit it? [source]

Adam Haritan

For anyone interested in my career path, I’d recommend books in various genres. On a real practical level, I’d certainly recommend reading any and all plant/mushroom/tree/ecology/nature books you can acquire. It’s even more helpful to read the books that pertain specifically to your ecosystem and bioregion. Additionally, I’d also recommend reading a plethora of business and marketing books — both old and new alike. Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and anything by Seth Godin would be my top recommendations. And of course, every book I mentioned in the previous answers are strongly recommended as well. [source]

Alan Pierce

This book dramatically changed the way I structured my day to day life. Based on over two decades of personal interviews and studies of some of history's’ greatest minds, the author distills the lessons he learned and details how you can train and condition your mind through daily habit to master your actions. The way it promotes a disciplined and holistic approach of continual self-improvement, goal setting and strategic decision making really resonated with me. [source]

28

The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century

David Salsburg

4.3

An insightful, revealing history of the magical mathematics that transformed our world.

At a summer tea party in Cambridge, England, a guest states that tea poured into milk tastes different from milk poured into tea. Her notion is shouted down by the scientific minds of the group. But one man, Ronald Fisher, proposes to scientifically test the hypothesis. There is no better person to conduct such

29

Statistics Done Wrong: The Woefully Complete Guide

Alex Reinhart

4.3

Everyone knows that abuse of statistics is rampant in popular media. Politicians and marketers present shoddy evidence for dubious claims all the time. But smart people make mistakes too, and when it comes to statistics, plenty of otherwise great scientists--yes, even those published in peer-reviewed journals--are doing statistics wrong.

"Statistics Done Wrong" comes to the rescue with cautionary t

30

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking

Jordan Ellenberg

4.3

The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands

The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life

Recommended by Bill Gates, Auston Bunsen, and Nick Ganju.

CEO/Microsoft

The writing is funny, smooth, and accessible -- not what you might expect from a book about math. What Ellenberg has written is ultimately a love letter to math. If the stories he tells add up to a larger lesson, it’s that 'to do mathematics is to be, at once, touched by fire and bound by reason' -- and that there are ways in which we’re all doing math, all the time. [source]

Auston Bunsen

I’ve got a few, one book that really impacted me early on as someone coming from a middle-class family was “Rich dad, Poor dad”. Since then I’ve read many books but one that really stands out is “How not to be wrong” by Jordan Ellenberg which really reignited my appetite & appreciation for math. [source]

Nick Ganju

Written for an audience of people who have historically been intimidated by math … and introduces things in a very simple way, and then works up to more complex concepts. [source]

Cover unavailable

31

Practical Statistics for Data Scientists: 50 Essential Concepts

Peter Bruce and Andrew Bruce

4.3

Statistical methods are a key part of of data science, yet very few data scientists have any formal statistics training. Courses and books on basic statistics rarely cover the topic from a data science perspective. This practical guide explains how to apply various statistical methods to data science, tells you how to avoid their misuse, and gives you advice on what's important and what's not.

Many

32

All of Statistics: A Concise Course in Statistical Inference

Larry Wasserman

4.3

Taken literally, the title "All of Statistics" is an exaggeration. But in spirit, the title is apt, as the book does cover a much broader range of topics than a typical introductory book on mathematical statistics. This book is for people who want to learn probability and statistics quickly. It is suitable for graduate or advanced undergraduate students in computer science, mathematics, statistics

33

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Peter L. Bernstein

4.3

With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians P

Recommended by Howard Marks, Jason Zweig, and John Lanchester.

Howard Marks

So good. [source]

Jason Zweig

In the book, he explores risk at every conceivable level – what it is mathematically and what it is psychologically, how it has played out historically, how people have thought to measure it and also to control it. [source]

John Lanchester

it’s an absolutely fascinating, for-the-layman account of how humanity mastered risk and came to understand probability. [source]

34

Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks

Ben Goldacre

4.3

The informative and witty expose of the "bad science" we are all subjected to, called "one of the essential reads of the year" by New Scientist.

We are obsessed with our health. And yet — from the media's "world-expert microbiologist" with a mail-order Ph.D. in his garden shed laboratory, and via multiple health scares and miracle cures — we are constantly bombarded with inaccurate, contradictory,

Recommended by Timothy Ferriss, Bryan Callen, Charles Poliquin, and 2 others.

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

I agree wholeheartedly with a lot of the co-opted science, which people can read a book called Bad Science, which is by a doctor named Ben Goldacre. It’s great. [source]

Bryan Callen

Great book, yeah. [source]

Charles Poliquin

You would stop making those dumb comments if you read this book. [source]

35

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Brian Christian and Griffiths

4.3

A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we

Recommended by Doug McMillon, Chris Oliver, Emi Gal, and 2 others.

Doug McMillon

CEO/Walmart

Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. [source]

Chris Oliver

This is a great book talking about how you can use computer science to help you make decisions in life. How do you know when to make a decision on the perfect house? Car? etc? It helps you apply algorithms to making those decisions optimally without getting lost. [source]

Emi Gal

When asked what books he would recommend to young people interested in his career path, mentioned Algorithms to Live By. [source]

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36

Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One's Looking)

Christian Rudder

4.3

A New York Times Bestseller

An audacious, irreverent investigation of human behavior—and a first look at a revolution in the making

Our personal data has been used to spy on us, hire and fire us, and sell us stuff we don’t need. In Dataclysm, Christian Rudder uses it to show us who we truly are.

For centuries, we’ve relied on polling or small-scale lab experiments to study human behavior. Today, a

Recommended by Elad Yom-Tov.

Elad Yom-Tov

Christian Rudder was the chief scientist of a dating website, OK Cupid. [source]

37

Applied Predictive Modeling

Max Kuhn and Kjell Johnson

4.3

This text is intended for a broad audience as both an introduction to predictive models as well as a guide to applying them. Non- mathematical readers will appreciate the intuitive explanations of the techniques while an emphasis on problem-solving with real data across a wide variety of applications will aid practitioners who wish to extend their expertise. Readers should have knowledge of basic

Recommended by Kirk Borne.

Kirk Borne

Find more than 40 useful #PredictiveModeling articles here at @DataScienceCtrl https://t.co/KdcvLRffRk #abdsc ———— #BigData #DataScience #AI #MachineLearning #Forecasting #Statistics #PredictiveAnalytics ——— +This is the best book on the subject: https://t.co/SmsepmniHi https://t.co/amBJHCJSHN [source]

38

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Christopher M. Bishop

4.3

Pattern recognition has its origins in engineering, whereas machine learning grew out of computer science. However, these activities can be viewed as two facets of the same field, and together they have undergone substantial development over the past ten years. In particular, Bayesian methods have grown from a specialist niche to become mainstream, while graphical models have emerged as a general

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39

Discovering Statistics Using R

Andy Field, Jeremy Miles, et al.

4.2

The R version of Andy Field's hugely popular Discovering Statistics Using SPSS takes students on a journey of statistical discovery using the freeware R. Like its sister textbook, Discovering Statistics Using R is written in an irreverent style and follows the same ground-breaking structure and pedagogical approach. The core material is enhanced by a cast of characters to help the reader on their

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40

Bayesian Data Analysis

Andrew Gelman, John B. Carlin, Hal S. Stern, Donald B. Rubin

4.2

Incorporating new and updated information, this second edition of THE bestselling text in Bayesian data analysis continues to emphasize practice over theory, describing how to conceptualize, perform, and critique statistical analyses from a Bayesian perspective. Its world-class authors provide guidance on all aspects of Bayesian data analysis and include examples of real statistical analyses, base

41

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

4.2

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a bo

Recommended by Ev Williams, Mike Shinoda, Marillyn Hewson, and 4 others.

Mike Shinoda

I know most of the guys in the band read this book. [source]

Marillyn Hewson

CEO/Lockheed Martin

CEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. [source]

Antonio Eram

When asked to name some books that had a big impact on him, Antonio mentioned Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. [source]

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42

Statistical Rethinking: A Bayesian Course with Examples in R and Stan

Richard McElreath

4.2

Statistical Rethinking: A Bayesian Course with Examples in R and Stan builds readers' knowledge of and confidence in statistical modeling. Reflecting the need for even minor programming in today's model-based statistics, the book pushes readers to perform step-by-step calculations that are usually automated. This unique computational approach ensures that readers understand enough of the details t

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43

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy

Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

4.2

Bayes' rule appears to be a straightforward, one-line theorem: by updating our initial beliefs with objective new information, we get a new and improved belief. To its adherents, it is an elegant statement about learning from experience. To its opponents, it is subjectivity run amok.

In the first-ever account of Bayes' rule for general readers, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores this controversial th

44

Statistics

David Freedman, Robert Pisani, Roger Purves

4.2

The Fourth Edition has been carefully revised and updated to reflect current data.

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45

Probability Theory

E. T. Jaynes, G. Larry Bretthorst

4.2

Going beyond the conventional mathematics of probability theory, this study views the subject in a wider context. It discusses new results, along with applications of probability theory to a variety of problems. The book contains many exercises and is suitable for use as a textbook on graduate-level courses involving data analysis. Aimed at readers already familiar with applied mathematics at an a

46

Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart

Ian Ayres

4.2

Why would a casino try and stop you from losing? How can a mathematical formula find your future spouse? Would you know if a statistical analysis blackballed you from a job you wanted?Today, number crunching affects your life in ways you might never imagine. In this lively and groundbreaking new book, economist Ian Ayres shows how today's best and brightest organizations are analyzing massive data

47

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

Richard H. Thaler

4.2

Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central agents in the economy are humans—predictable, error-prone individuals. Misbehaving is his arresting, frequently hilarious account of the struggle to bring an academic discipline back down to earth—and change the way we think about economics, ourselves, and our world.

Traditional economics assumes rati

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48

R for Data Science: Import, Tidy, Transform, Visualize, and Model Data

Hadley Wickham and Garrett Grolemund

4.2

Learn how to use R to turn raw data into insight, knowledge, and understanding. This book introduces you to R, RStudio, and the tidyverse, a collection of R packages designed to work together to make data science fast, fluent, and fun. Suitable for readers with no previous programming experience, R for Data Science is designed to get you doing data science as quickly as possible.

Authors Hadley Wic

49

A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking with Statistics and the Scientific Method

Daniel J. Levitin

4.2

From The New York Times bestselling author of THE ORGANIZED MIND and THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC, a primer to the critical thinking that is more necessary now than ever.

We are bombarded with more information each day than our brains can process—especially in election season. It's raining bad data, half-truths, and even outright lies. New York Times bestselling author Daniel J. Levitin shows how t

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50

Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models

Andrew Gelman, Jennifer Hill

4.2

Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models is a comprehensive manual for the applied researcher who wants to perform data analysis using linear and nonlinear regression and multilevel models. The book introduces a wide variety of models, whilst at the same time instructing the reader in how to fit these models using available software packages. The book illustrates the conce

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51

Thinking Statistically

Uri Bram and Hannah Vazque

4.2

This book will show you how to think like a statistician, without worrying about formal statistical techniques. Along the way we’ll learn how selection bias can explain why your boss doesn’t know he sucks (even when everyone else does); how to use Bayes’ Theorem to decide if your partner is cheating on you; and why Mark Zuckerberg should never be used as an example for anything. See the world in a

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52

Statistical Inference

George Casella, Roger L. Berger

4.2

This book builds theoretical statistics from the first principles of probability theory. Starting from the basics of probability, the authors develop the theory of statistical inference using techniques, definitions, and concepts that are statistical and are natural extensions and consequences of previous concepts. This book can be used for readers who have a solid mathematics background. It can a

53

Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion

Joshua D. Angrist

4.1

The core methods in today's econometric toolkit are linear regression for statistical control, instrumental variables methods for the analysis of natural experiments, and differences-in-differences methods that exploit policy changes. In the modern experimentalist paradigm, these techniques address clear causal questions such as: Do smaller classes increase learning? Should wife batterers be arres

54

Statistics for Dummies, 2nd Edition

Deborah J. Rumsey

4.1

Statistics For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9781119293521) was previously published as Statistics For Dummies, 2nd Edition (9780470911082). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product.

The fun and easy way to get down to business with statistics

Stymied by statistics? No fear? this friendly

55

Envisioning Information

Edward R. Tufte

4.1

The celebrated design professor here tackles the question of how best to communicate real-life experience in a two-degree format, whether on the printed page or the computer screen. The Whole Earth Review called Envisioning Information a "passionate, elegant revelation."

Recommended by Kevin Rose, Jeff Atwood, Bret Victor, and 1 others.

Kevin Rose

Co-founder/Digg

The master when it comes to taking complicated data and turning it into beautiful charts and graphs that are easy to understand. If you’re into graphic design, print design, web design, you name it, you’re going to get some really good information and how tos out of these books. He has a whole series of these books. [source]

56

ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis

Hadley Wickham

4.1

1. 1 Welcome to ggplot2 ggplot2 is an R package for producing statistical, or data, graphics, but it is unlike most other graphics packages because it has a deep underlying grammar. This grammar, based on the Grammar of Graphics (Wilkinson, 2005), is composed of a set of independent components that can be composed in many di?erent ways. This makesggplot2 very powerful, because you are not limited

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57

Principles of Statistics

M.G. Bulmer

4.1

There are many textbooks which describe current methods of statistical analysis, while neglecting related theory. There are equally many advanced textbooks which delve into the far reaches of statistical theory, while bypassing practical applications. But between these two approaches is an unfilled gap, in which theory and practice merge at an intermediate level. Professor M. G. Bulmer's Principle

58

Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

William Poundstone

4.1

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of information theory—the basis of computers and the Internet—to the problem of making as much mon

Recommended by P. D. Mangan.

P. D. Mangan

@MarquisDeMarche @natstewart5 Great book. [source]

59

How to Lie with Statistics

Darrell Huff

4.1