This was not a book I had envisioned as being something that
I would read, let alone grow to love. My experience with statistics had been
limited to some courses I took in graduate school and then exposed to when I
was on my first job, we were all exposed to statistical process control (SPC) and
six sigma. My background in statistics only went so far as knowing some of the
SPC tools. As I grew more mature I began to appreciate the usefulness of
statistics but I had a hard time connecting the SPC tools I was exposed to with
the mathematic heavy statistics that are taught in the textbooks. As I tried to
parse through the dense formal statistical curriculum I grew frustrated with my
own inability to get through to the kernel of the topic. As I struggled I kept
seeing this particular book being recommended by a number of people, so I
bought it and prepared for the worst, yet another dense explanation of
rudimentary statistics that had very little to do with what I wanted.
To my surprise and amazement, this book was so different,
different from any other book that I had ever read. It was a love paean to the
study of statistics, it was a gossipy and information laden history of the
evolution of the art of probability and statistics, it was a summary of the
important developments in statistics, it was an invaluable primer in the
methods used in the practical application of statistic, and finally, it was a
hefty philosophical discussion of the problems and issues that are still
plaguing the researchers in statistics. I think you get the idea that I kind of
liked reading this book.
David Salzburg is a practitioner of the art of statistics,
he has the ability to explain the very dense concepts in statistics, both the
applied tools and the mathematical conundrums with adept ease. Most importantly
he did this without employing any mathematics. Which in some ways is very
impressive and in other times it was frustrating because it would have been
more enlightening to resort to the bare bones mathematics, but no matter.
Prof. Salzburg clearly has a great love for the story as
well as for the subject, he has a great sense of history as well as a deft
touch for the internecine nastiness that occurred with the giants of statistics.
His descriptions of the relationship, or lack thereof between Pearson and
Fisher kept me riveted to the narrative. His description of some of the great
mathematicians who were caught in the destructive totalitarian regimes during
and after World War II added the human dimension to these stories. I don’t know
which aspect of the book I appreciated more, the historical perspective or the
unraveling the mystery of the functional relationship between statistical tools
and ideas.
There is a clear devotion in his writing that reflects his
devotion to giving credit where credit is due, even though he apologized for
his inability to give credit to all that had contributed, the breadth and depth
of the book was astounding and gratifying to someone who appreciates a truly “Big
Picture” look at the statistical landscape from the 10,000 feet view. I
particularly enjoyed the discussions regarding the contributions of Deming and
Shewart to the SPC branch of the vast tree of statistical evolution. I was able
to make the connections from those chapters to untie the knot that was in my
mind.
The piece de resistance was the final chapter where he
discusses his own views on the unexplained philosophical contradictions still existing
in statistics. It felt like I was in the midst of the discussion even though I
am a dilettante in the art of statistics.
This is a book that comprised of some very dense concepts
and it was difficult to focus at times but it was well worth the effort in my
mind.
