Chapter 14

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

If you torture the data long enough, it will confess

Ronald Coase, as quoted by Irving John Good

There is the old story that there is no Nobel Prize in Mathematics because Alfred Nobel’s wife slept with a mathematician. Although we doubt a quick nap would lead to enmity, the implication is that she was awake—enthusiastically. That story, however, is another myth; Alfred Nobel was never married.1

1. Cf. www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-prizes-rite/

While that story is not true, mathematics is indeed the underpinnings of most science. Advanced physics, advanced chemistry, and every engineering field use advanced mathematics. For example, string theory (theoretical cosmology) uses algebraic topology, a cutting-edge ...

Get Cybersecurity Myths and Misconceptions: Avoiding the Hazards and Pitfalls that Derail Us now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial