Weapons of Math Destruction

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2016 A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016 One of Wired 's Required Reading Picks of 2016 One of Fortune 's Favorite Books of 2016 A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2016 A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016 A Nature.com Best Book of 2016 An On Point Best Book of 2016 New York Times Editor's Choice A Maclean 's Bestseller Winner of the 2016 SLA-NY PrivCo Spotlight Award O'Neil's book offers a frightening look at how algorithms are increasingly regulating people... Her knowledge of the power and risks of mathematical models, coupled with a gift for analogy, makes her one of the most valuable observers of the continuing weaponization of big data... [She] does a masterly job explaining the pervasiveness and risks of the algorithms that regulate our lives. - New York Times Book Review Weapons of Math Destruction is the Big Data story Silicon Valley proponents won't tell.... [It] pithily exposes flaws in how information is used to assess everything from creditworthiness to policing tactics.... a thought-provoking read for anyone inclined to believe that data doesn't lie. - Reuters This is a manual for the 21st-century citizen, and it succeeds where other big data accounts have failed - it is accessible, refreshingly critical and feels relevant and urgent. -Financial Times Insightful and disturbing. -New York Review of Books Weapons of Math Destruction is an urgent critique of... the rampant misuse of math in nearly every aspect of our lives. -Boston Globe A fascinating and deeply disturbing book. - Yuval Noah Harari , author of Sapiens ; The Guardian 's Best Books of 2016 Illuminating... [O'Neil] makes a convincing case that this reliance on algorithms has gone too far. -The Atlantic A nuanced reminder that big data is only as good as the people wielding it. -Wired If you've ever suspected there was something baleful about our deep trust in data, but lacked the mathematical skills to figure out exactly what it was, this is the book for you. -Salon O'Neil is an ideal person to write this book. She is an academic mathematician turned Wall Street quant turned data scientist who has been involved in Occupy Wall Street and recently started an algorithmic auditing company. She is one of the strongest voices speaking out for limiting the ways we allow algorithms to influence our lives... While Weapons of Math Destruction is full of hard truths and grim statistics, it is also accessible and even entertaining. O'Neil's writing is direct and easy to read-I devoured it in an afternoon. - Scientific American Readable and engaging... succinct and cogent... Weapons of Math Destruction is The Jungle of our age... [It] should be required reading for all data scientists and for any organizational decision-maker convinced that a mathematical model can replace human judgment. - Mark Van Hollebeke, Data and Society: Points Indispensable... Despite the technical complexity of its subject, Weapons of Math Destruction lucidly guides readers through these complex modeling systems... O'Neil's book is an excellent primer on the ethical and moral risks of Big Data and an algorithmically dependent world... For those curious about how Big Data can help them and their businesses, or how it has been reshaping the world around them, Weapons of Math Destruction is an essential starting place. - National Post Cathy O'Neil has seen Big Data from the inside, and the picture isn't pretty. Weapons of Math Destruction opens the curtain on algorithms that exploit people and distort the truth while posing as neutral mathematical tools. This book is wise, fierce, and desperately necessary. - Jordan Ellenberg , University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of How Not To Be Wrong O'Neil has become [a whistle-blower] for the world of Big Data... [in] her important new book... Her work makes particularly disturbing points ab