Panicology: Two Statisticians Explain What's Worth Worrying about (and What's Not) in the 21st Century

Briscoe, the statistics editor at The Financial Times, and science writer Aldersey-Williams (The Most Beautiful Molecule) join forces for a wide-ranging appeal to ""worry less"" in about public health, social policy, terrorists, declining resources and other sources of media-generated hysteria (except for earthquakes and cars, which we could stand to worry about more). While these British reporters turn up a few surprises (some demographers now worrying about ""negative momentum,"" when ""a shrinking population goes into an every-steeper spiral of decline"") and some cheeky bits (the Continent prefers the bidet while Anglo Saxons don't, ""the French buy less soap""), many of their themes are well-worn: the ""obesity plague,"" flu scares, environmentalism gone awry, and health scares implicating power lines, cellular phones and genetically engineered foods. Despite some familiarity, Briscoe and Aldersey-Williams demystify a huge list of tricky subject matter with precision and humor.