Darrell Huff and fifty years of How to lie with statistics. (English) Zbl 1100.01510

Steele, J. Michael

Stat. Sci. 20, No. 3, 205-209 (2005).

Summary: Over the last fifty years, How to Lie with Statistics has sold more copies than any other statistical text. This note explores the factors that contributed to its success and provides biographical sketches of its creators: author Darrell Huff and illustrator Irving Geis.

MSC:

01A70	Biographies, obituaries, personalia, bibliographies
62-03	History of statistics
62-07	Data analysis (statistics) (MSC2010)
62A01	Foundations and philosophical topics in statistics

Keywords:

Irving Geis; How to Lie with Statistics; numeracy; graphs; crescent cow

References:

[1]	Anonymous (1998). Obituaries, ’20s. The Pennsylvania Gazette , University of Pennsylvania Alummi Magazine, April.
[2]	Beamer, S. (1994). How to Lie With Your Mac . Hayden, Indianapolis.
[3]	Best, J. (2001). Damned Lies and Statistics. Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists . Univ. California Press, Berkeley.
[4]	Crane, B. (1954). The Business Bookshelf. The New York Times , January 4, p. 41.
[5]	Dickerson, R. E. (1997). Irving Geis, Molecular artist, 1908–1997. Protein Science 6 2483–2484.
[6]	Ethridge, J. M. and Kopala, B., eds. (1967). Contemporary Authors. A Biobiliographical Guide to Current Authors and their Works . Gale Research Company, Detroit.
[7]	Huff, D. (1944). Pictures by Pete. A Career Story of a Young Commercial Photographer . Dodd, Mead, New York.
[8]	Huff, D. (1945). Twenty Careers of Tomorrow . Whittlesey House, McGraw–Hill, New York.
[9]	Huff, D. (1946). The Dog that Came True (illust. C. Moran and D. Thorne). Whittlesey House, McGraw–Hill, New York.
[10]	Huff, D. (1954). How to Lie with Statistics (illust. I. Geis). Norton, New York.
[11]	Huff, D. (1954). How to Spot Statistical Jokers. The New York Times , August 22, p. SM13.
[12]	Huff, D. (1959). How to Take a Chance (illust. I. Geis). Norton, New York.
[13]	Huff, D. (1961). Score. The Strategy of Taking Tests (illust. C. Huff). Appleton–Century Crofts, New York.
[14]	Huff, D. (1962). Living high on $6500 a year. The Saturday Evening Post 235 60–62. [Reprinted in Mother Earth News , January 1970.] Available online at www.motherearthnews.com/mothers_library/1970.
[15]	Huff, D. (1964). Cycles in Your Life—The Rhythms of War, Wealth, Nature, and Human Behavior. Or Patterns in War\(,\) Wealth\(,\) Weather\(,\) Women\(,\) Men\(,\) and Nature (illust. A. Kovarsky). Norton, New York.
[16]	Huff, D. (1968). How to Work With Concrete and Masonry (illust. C. and G. Kinsey). Popular Science Publishing, New York.
[17]	Huff, D. (1972). How to Figure the Odds on Everything (illust. J. Huehnergarth). Dreyfus, New York.
[18]	Huff, D. (1972). How to Save on the Home You Want (with F. Huff and the editors of Dreyfus Publications; illust. R. Doty). Dreyfus, New York.
[19]	Huff, D. (1996). The Complete How to Figure It. Using Math in Everyday Life (illust. C. Kinsey; design K. M. Huff). Norton, New York.
[20]	Huff, D. and Corey, P. (1957). Home Workshop Furniture Projects . Fawcett, New York.
[21]	Huff, D. and Huff, F. (1963). How to Lower Your Food Bills. Your Guide to the Battle of the Supermarket . Macfadden–Bartell, New York.
[22]	Huff, D. and Huff, F. (1970). Complete Book of Home Improvement (illust. G. and C. Kinsey and Bray–Schaible Design, Inc.). Popular Science Publishing, New York. · Zbl 0218.47027
[23]	Huff, F. M. (1973). Family Vacations. More Fun For Less Money (with D. Huff and the editors of Dreyfus Publications; illust. J. Huehnergarth). Dreyfus, New York.
[24]	Jones, G. E. (2000). How to Lie with Charts . iUniverse, Lincoln, NE.
[25]	Levitt, S. D. and Dubner, S. J. (2005). Freakonomics. A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything . Morrow, New York.
[26]	Monmonier, M. (1996). How to Lie with Maps , 2nd ed. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago. · Zbl 1100.62518
[27]	Nelson, E. (2002). The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Roman Empire . Alpha Books, Indianapolis.
[28]	Paulos, J. A. (1988). Innumeracy. Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences . Hill and Wang, New York.
[29]	Paulos, J. A. (1996). A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper . Anchor Books, New York. · Zbl 1298.00013
[30]	Poore, C. (1954). Books of The Times. The New York Times , January 16, p. 13.
[31]	Scharnberg, M. (1984). The Myth of Paradigm-Shift, or How to Lie with Methodology . Almqvist and Wiksell, Uppsala.
[32]	Tufte, E. (1983). The Visual Display of Quantitative Information . Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT.