William M. Briggs

AMO+PDO = Temperature Variation: One Graph Does Not Says It All

Introduction Anthony Watts over at Watts Up With That?---incidentally, a blog title infinitely superior to "William M. Briggs, Statistician"---asked me to comment on Joe D'Aleo and Don Easterbrook's new paper,…

Culture Fun Statistics

Lottery Simulator; Science Reporting; More

Bit busy today, folks. Here's some interesting links. Typo warning level 5. Incredibly Depressing Mega Millions Lottery Simulator! That's the creator's name for it: I find it exhilarating and nicely…

Culture

Predictions of E-Books And Reading Verified?

Just something quick today; I mean written quickly. Typo alert! Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published "Authors Feel Pinch in Age of E-Books", in which are various observations that appear…

Culture Statistics

How To Guarantee Enthusiastic College Students

I Didn't Do My Homework Apathy is contagious. I discovered this after only two of the forty-five students registered for the statistics class I teach bothered to do their homework…

Book review Culture Statistics

Reading Lyrics by Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball

First, thanks, Google. Aren't you all sweethearts. 10100 != F1 + F4 + F6 + F9. Reading Lyrics: More than a thousand of the finest lyrics from 1900 to 1975.…

Culture Fun

USDA Bans Delicacy? Pork Blood Cake Candles Snuffed Out

Continuing our popular theme of pig innards, we focus today on blood, and prove that there is a little vampire in all of us. Yet our bureaucrats seek to disguise…

Fun Statistics

The Mathematics of Boneless Pork Rectums

Ever wonder what's in those delicious dumplings? What gives them that special tang? The flavor that cannot quite be named? Wonder no further! For the secret has been revealed. And…

Fun Statistics

The Sports Illustrated curse and regression to the mean

Due to overwhelming demand, today's column is a classic reprint. This originally appeared on 18 January 2008. The headlines of today's New York Daily News is CURSES! It seems the…

Rudolph Harrier on Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?March 19, 2026
It's always "I'm right, because all the experts say I'm right. You wouldn't want to disagree with the experts, would…
John M on The Great Effeminization of the AcademyMarch 18, 2026
Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman…
Cary D Cotterman on The Great Effeminization of the AcademyMarch 18, 2026
I can't read the titles or the excerpts without laughing out loud. They are comedy gold.
Michael 2 on On Not ReadingMarch 18, 2026
"I do watch electronic repair videos and old movies on YouTube (and not on a phone). " Same here. Big…
Tars Tarkas on The Great Effeminization of the AcademyMarch 18, 2026
I miss Z-man's Xirl Science segments in the Z-Man power hour. He would highlight articles like the ones highlighted here.…

William M. Briggs

Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?

The Great Effeminization of the Academy

The Only Metric That Matters: Or, Pinker’s Folly

Lancet Discovers Public Health Is Politics

Class 82: Be More Uncertain (About Models)

On Not Reading

The Great Smoothing: Another Reason Not To Fear (or trust) AI

A Synchronicity Or Coincidence? What Is Behind Curious Events?

Class 81: The Second Biggest Error In Time Series

The Paper Test Shows Why AGI Is Not Possible: And Why The Brain Is Different In Kind

Researcher Imagines Weather With No Human Influence: Concludes Climate Change Hurts Incomes

Faith Deposited: Why Godless Science Fails

Class 80: Granger Causality; Per Se & Accidental Time Series; Stationarity

Scientists Seeking To Escape Criticism Run To The Warmth & Comfort Of Bluesky

The Loss of Ephemera — Guest Post by The Blonde Bombshell

Class 79: Time Series Example

The Importance Of Not Making Decisions

Don’t Take The ‘Long-Covid’ Alzheimer’s Study Seriously

AI Is Driving Many Crazy: Our Latest Panic

Class 78: The Attempt To Turn Correlation Lead Into Causation Gold In Time Series

Desperate Need For Equality: AP Exam Performance