A revolutionary and utterly original book revealing why we should doubt experts - and question ourselves

A groundbreaking and ingenious perspective on the barriers to human understanding, The Hidden Half is essential reading for thinkers and decision-makers everywhere.

Why is vital economic data often hopelessly wrong? What makes young criminals turn out so unpredictably different? Why does scientific research produce lots of false findings? Why do many prescription medicines do nothing for most people? The answer lies in 'The Hidden Half' - a world of fascinating complexity that defies our attempts to comprehend it.

Using counter-intuitive stories from economics, policy, genetics, business and science, Michael Blastland reveals how in our quest to make the world more understandable, we lose sight of how easily it frustrates us. Entertaining and provocative, this will change how you think.

Why does one smoker die of lung cancer but another live to 100? The answer is 'The Hidden Half' - those random, unknowable variables that mess up our attempts to comprehend the world.

We humans are very clever creatures - but we're idiots about how clever we really are. In this entertaining and ingenious book, Blastland reveals how in our quest to make the world more understandable, we lose sight of how unexplainable it often is. The result - from GDP figures to medicine - is that experts know a lot less than they think.

Filled with compelling stories from economics, genetics, business, and science, The Hidden Half is a warning that an explanation which works in one arena may not work in another. Entertaining and provocative, it will change how you view the world.