A statistical national treasure Jeremy Vine BBC Radio 2Required reading for all politicians journalists medics and anyone who tries to influence people or is influenced by statistics. A tour de force Popular ScienceDo busier hospitals have higher survival rates How many trees are there on the planet Why do old men have big ears David Spiegelhalter reveals the answers to these and many other questions questions that can only be addressed using statistical science.Statistics has played a leading role in our scientific understanding of the world for centuries yet we are all familiar with the way statistical claims can be sensationalised particularly in the media. In the age of big data as data science becomes established as a discipline a basic grasp of statistical literacy is more important than ever.