Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Presented by Alok Jha and produced by Jason Phipps

Science Weekly podcast: the everyday mathematics of danger

This week's edition is an extended conversation with statistician David Spiegelhalter and author/journalist Michael Blastland about their new book The Norm Chronicles: Stories and Numbers About Danger.

The stories are populated by archetypal characters: the eponymous Norm – very much a Mr Average – along with the more reckless Kelvin and hypercautious Prudence. The characters find themselves in dilemmas that are all to familiar to all of us, from the risk of boozing and smoking to the risk of doing that charity sky dive … well, maybe not all of us.

The Norm Chronicles: Stories and Numbers About Danger is available at the Guardian bookshop. For John Grace's digested read of the book, click here.

Subscribe for free via iTunes to ensure every episode gets delivered. (Here is the non-iTunes URL feed).

Follow the podcast on our Science Weekly Twitter feed and receive updates on all breaking science news stories from Guardian Science.

Email scienceweeklypodcast@gmail.com.

Guardian Science is now on Facebook. You can also join our Science Weekly Facebook group.

We're always here when you need us. Listen back through our archive.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.