The Numerati by Stephen Baker

From Barnes & Noble

The Numerati are watching you. In this absorbing, sometimes scary book, award-winning BusinessWeek reporter Stephen Baker describes the mathematical elite who spend their days profiling us as shoppers, workers, voters, patients, potential terrorists; even as voyeurs and lovers. We don't know they're there, but every time we scan a website, use a cell phone, or buy something with a credit card, you're providing them with the data they need to understand and ultimately manipulate your behavior. With the help of Numerati savants, companies can sell you goods you never knew you wanted, and politicians can package themselves as candidates to match individual preferences. But, brace yourself, the trend is just beginning. "The mathematical modeling of humanity," he notes, "will transform every aspect of our lives." A stimulating ride for information addicts.

From the Publisher

Every day we produce loads of data about ourselves simply by living in the modern world: we click web pages, shop with credit cards, and make cell phone calls. Companies like Yahoo! and Google are harvesting an average of 2,500 details about each of us every month. Who is looking at this data and what are they doing with it? 
 
Journalist Stephen Baker explores these questions and provides us with a fascinating guide to the world we're entering—and to the people controlling that world. The Numerati have infiltrated every realm of human affairs, profiling us as workers, shoppers, voters, potential terrorists—and lovers. The implications are vast. Privacy evaporates. Our bosses can monitor our every move. Retailers can better tempt us to make impulse buys. But the Numerati can also work on our behalf, diagnosing an illness before we're aware of the symptoms, or even helping us find our soul mate. Entertaining and enlightening, The Numerati shows how a powerful new endeavor—the mathematical modeling of humanity—will transform every aspect of our lives.

What People Are Saying

Don Tapscott
"This is the ultimate revenge of the nerds. The Numerati are sweeping through entire industries, using bits and bytes to construct digital replicas of each of us and then forecast our behavior... A terrific read."--(Don Tapscott, co-author of Wikinomics)

Arianna Huffington
"From how we vote, to how we shop, to how we date, and even to how we think, the people we meet in the pages of Steve Baker's fascinating book are transforming our world. Whether these changes are for the better or for the worse is up to us. The Numerati is one of those rare reads that is as enlightening at it is entertaining. It will change the way you look at life."--(Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post)

Daniel H. Pink
"In this timely and compelling book, Stephen Baker pulls back the curtain on the number-crunchers who have insinuated themselves into our lives. You'll be amazed, alarmed-and, at times, even inspired-by the power of this new geek elite to predict whom we'll marry, what we'll buy, and how we'll vote."--(Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind)

Product Details

• Table of Contents
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Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt