The Norm chronicles

About this book

"Is it safer to fly or take the train? How dangerous is skydiving? And is eating that extra sausage going to kill you? We've all heard the statistics for risky activities, but what do they mean in the real world? In The Norm Chronicles, journalist Michael Blastland and risk expert David Spiegelhalter explore these questions through the stories of average Norm and an ingenious measurement called the MicroMort-a one in a million chance of dying. They reveal why general anesthesia is as dangerous as a parachute jump, giving birth in the US is nearly twice as risky as in the UK, and that the radiation from eating a banana shaves 3 seconds off your life. An entertaining guide to the statistics of personal risk, The Norm Chronicles will enlighten anyone who has ever worried about the dangers we encounter in our daily lives"-- "Is it safer to fly or take the train? How dangerous is skydiving? And is eating that extra link of breakfast sausage going to kill you? We've all heard the statistics for risky activities, but what do those numbers actually mean in the real world? In The Norm Chronicles, journalist Michael Blastland and risk expert David Spiegelhalter answer these questions--and far more--in a commonsense (and wildly entertaining) guide to personal risk. Through the adventures of the perfectly average Norm, his friends careful Prudence and the reckless Kelvin brothers, and an ingenious measurement called the MicroMort--essentially, a one in a million chance of dying--Blastland and Spiegelhalter show us how to think about risk in the choices we make every day"--