A clear, practical, first-of-its-kind guide to communicating and understanding numbers and data-from bestselling business author Chip Heath.

How much bigger is a billion than a million?

Well, a million seconds is twelve days. A billion seconds is...thirty-two years.

Understanding numbers is essential-but humans aren't built to understand them. Until very recently, most languages had no words for numbers greater than five-anything from six to infinity was known as "lots." While the numbers in our world have gotten increasingly complex, our brains are stuck in...