I just finished reading The Numerati
I really enjoyed the book–and I expect it will become “required reading” for everyone in the Internet technology universe. The book is about how mathematics is being used to model our behaviors, desires and conversations online. Here’s an overview of the chapters:
- Worker covers how mathemeticians are creating models that describe our knowledge, skills and abilities–so that large companies (like IBM) can figure out how to better harness their resources by creating dynamic teams that draw upon all the talent available to them.
- Shopper is about the future of purchasing recommendations–moving beyond the Amazon.com-style recommendation filters (a technology called collaborative filtering) to a future where merchants truly understand what you like.
- Voter is about how political campaigns are learning to model political beliefs and uncover the people most likely to swing in an election.
- Blogger is about how networks of knowledge are being created online, and how marketers are using this informal information to learn more about their own markets and reputation.
- Terrorist is about how law enforcement agencies (and casinos!) are modeling behaviors and social graphs to identify criminals.
- Patient is about technologies that model our daily lives in an effort to recommend ways we can improve our health.
- Lover is about how companies like Chemistry.com and eHarmony.com are using complex mathematical models to uncover who we are–and who our ideal mates.
on 
on 
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thanks for the summary, Jon; the book sounds quite interesting.
At first glance, it seems like a book that is once again trying to sell science as a solution to tough, human-centric problems.
What’s notable, however, is the fact that it seems to focus on having an understanding of human behavior (and our individual “behavioral DNA”, if you will) and our interpersonal interaction as central to the solutions.