Cartoon guides to math & stats


In the latest issue of Scientific Computing, Statistician John Wass reviews The Manga Guide to Statistics.  He suggests that this simplistic guide may be better suited for middle school than the adult learners it’s aimed at.  See for yourself by viewing this excerpt from Chapter 4 of The Manga Guide to Statistics: “Standard Score and Deviation Score” .

I am partial to the Cartoon Guide to Statistics myself.  See these sample pages on comparing small sample means .  I think this hits the target for those looking for a light refresher on basic stats.

Wass confesses to a “lifelong infatuation” with Walt Disney’s Duck clan, which led me to a movie featurette on Donald in Mathmagic Land, which one can find posted on YouTube and the like.  June 25 was the 50th anniversary of its release.  Unfortunately, as noted in Wikipedia, a cartoon character states that “Pi is equal to 3.141592653589747, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.”  The last two digits should be 93 – not 47.  So the scientist who wrote the script had to eat some humble pi. 😉

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