Making Numbers Count

MAKING NUMBERS COUNT by Chip Heath and Karla Starr is all about “The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers.” Kirkus sums up this text as follows: “Astute advice for business people and educators.” The authors note that their book “is based on a simple observation: we lose information when we don’t translate numbers into instinctive human experience.” They offer over 30 possible translation techniques (e.g., use calendar time – like every day for almost 4 months instead of saying 112). Heath and Starr explain the value of visual comparisons – like a pack of cards instead of a 4 ounce portion or thinking of all the world’s water as filling a gallon container (saltwater from the oceans) and three ice cubes (fresh water) with humans only able to drink the few drops melting off the cubes. Memorable, right? Other sections of the book suggest using emotional numbers and translating to a human scale. The examples go on and on, including the New York Times effort to convey the loss of human life to Covid-19 by posting the names and a small fact about just 1000 people -- still filling over 5 pages. Our Library collection has included numerous other texts by the Heath brothers (e.g., Switch; Decisive; Made to Stick; and The Power of Moments) and we will be adding MAKING NUMBERS COUNT soon.