Panicology: Two Statisticians Explain What's Worth Worrying About (and What's Not) in the 21st Century

Are you afraid you might succumb to bird flu? Worried that a life of poverty awaits you in old age? Concerned that you might not be having as much sex as the French? Anxious that our planet is under threat from climate change or a collision with an asteroid? If any, or all, of these things worry you, you're not alone. Anxiety is a part of modern life. But why? We're living longer, safer, and healthier lives than at any time in human history. So what is there to worry about?

In this witty and revealing book, Simon Briscoe and Hugh Aldersey-Williams strip away the hysteria that surrounds over forty of today's most common scare stories, from overpopulation and murder rates to fish shortages and obesity levels, and show the extraordinary extent to which statistics are manipulated or misrepresented by vested interests and the media, eager to exploit our fears. And most importantly they offer a toolkit for skepticism—ways of helping readers sort out what really is worth panicking about from the stuff that really isn't.

Hugh Aldersey-Williams studied natural sciences at St. John’s College, Cambridge. He is a writer and curator and is the author of numerous books on architecture, design, and science. He lives in Norfolk, England.

Simon Briscoe holds a degree is social sciences and has worked in the civil service, investment banking, and has been the statistics editor at The Financial Times in the UK since 1999. He lives in London.