First published 2021
A statistician faces the biggest data challenge of his career when COVID-19 arrives. Government experts predict massive death tolls. Officials impose lockdowns to flatten the curve. He must protect his family while the numbers tell conflicting stories. Armed with statistical training, he dives into coronavirus data in early 2020. The first analysis raises more questions than answers. A year later, he returns to examine which predictions proved accurate. He compares state responses to determine the most effective approaches. The costs and benefits of restrictions become clear through numerical analysis. Lives could have been saved with different choices in 2020. Most answers emerge from the data with mathematical certainty. The outbreak began with uncertainty, but statistics reveal the truth.
Genres: science, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: data-driven-narrative, expert-protagonist
Setting: United States
Period: 2020, 2021
90 pages · Paperback · Lulu.com