Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Joanna Ngai

Essential reads to understand the fascinating world of data

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — But Some Don’t (Nate Silver)

This book uses a diverse set of real world examples to show the relevance of prediction models as well as how forecasters overcome biases to uncover meaningful predictions.

2. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are (Seth Stephens‑Davidowitz)

…people’s search for information is, in itself, information. When and where they search for facts, quotes, jokes, places, persons, things, or help, it turns out, can tell us a lot more about what they really think, really desire, really fear, and really do than anyone might have guessed.

— Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

Seth Stephens-Davidowtiz, a former Google Data Scientist, shares his thoughts on how Google search data can offer a clarified view of human behavior.

3. Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (Cathy O’Neil)

An alarming and insightful read on the algorithms and models that govern our lives.

4. Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World (Christopher Steiner)

Technology has been changed forever by the development and progressive innovation of algorithms — learn more about the tools behind data collection with Steiner’s evocative examples.

5. Dataclysm: Who We Are When We Think No One’s Looking (Christian Rudder)

Computers, however, have nothing better to do; keeping track is their only job. They don’t lose the scrapbook, or travel, or get drunk, or grow senile, or even blink. They just sit there and remember.

— Christian Rudder

Credit: DataclysmCredit: Dataclysm

An engaging look into how communication and online dating via billions of online behavior patterns by the co-founder of popular online dating site OkCupid, paired with a unique perspective on how the quality of modern data collection has vastly improved.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to check out my design work or my new handbook on UX design, now available on Amazon.

Top 5 Books for Big Data was originally published in prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Top 5 Books for Big Data

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