Dicing with Death: Living by Data

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of medical statistics and public health data in understanding the disease. Stephen Senn's book explains statistical phenomena and how statistics is essential for making rational decisions about medical care. The second edition has been updated to cover developments of the last two decades and includes a new chapter on COVID-19.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 338 pages
Publication date: 08 December 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought medical statistics and public health data to the forefront of global news coverage, with frequent mentions of infection rates, deaths, case fatality rates, and the enigmatic R figure. While this information is crucial for understanding the pandemic's impact, not everyone possesses the necessary statistical background to translate it into knowledge. In this engaging account, Stephen Senn elucidates these statistical phenomena and highlights the indispensable role of statistics in making informed decisions about medical care. The second edition of this book has been extensively revised to encompass recent advancements over the past two decades, including a dedicated chapter on the medical statistical challenges posed by COVID-19, as well as additional material on infectious disease modeling and the representation of women in clinical trials. Senn employs anecdotes, puzzles, and paradoxes to engage readers while exploring profound themes such as clinical trials, life tables, vaccines, their risks and benefits, smoking and lung cancer, and even the power of prayer. By demystifying statistics and demonstrating its practical applications, this book empowers individuals to make well-informed choices regarding their health and well-being.

Weight: 486g
Dimension: 154 x 229 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108999861
Edition number: 2 Revised edition