“This eye-opening book challenges us to think critically. A must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the world.”
Max Roser
Our World in Data (Oxford)
Kiko Llaneras is one of the most consistently interesting data journalists to have emerged in the last decade
John Burn-Murdoch
Financial Times
Think Clearly: Eight Simple Rules to Succeed in the Data Age
Think Clearly brings together ideas that will help you analyze anything.
The book is now in its fourth edition and will have English, Korean, and Japanese editions in 2025.
The eight rules you'll learn from the book
1
Accept How Complex the World Is
2
Think in Numbers
3
Protect your Samples from Biases
4
Accept that Causation is Challenging
5
Don't Underestimate the Power of Randomness
6
Predict Without Ignoring Uncertainty
7
Accept the Trade-offs
8
Don’t Trust Your Intuition
Within each section, there are plenty of ideas, ranging from tips (do back-of-the-envelope calculations) to warnings (don’t confuse noise with signal).
Reviews of 'Think Clearly'
John Burn-Murdoch
Financial Times
“Kiko Llaneras is one of the most consistently interesting data journalists to have emerged in the last decade.”
Hayley Rance
Analista
“A must have for the data age. This book is for anyone interested in data, whether that's working as an analyst or just wanting to understand more. It's super accessible, talking to real life scenarios and demystifying complex uses of data into easy relatable chapters.”
Max Roser
Director of Our World in Data
University of Oxford
“This insightful book challenges us to think more critically and empowers us to make better decisions for a brighter future. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the world better.”
“Kiko is one of the clearest data communicators I know. In this brilliant book, he empowers you to do the same.”
Amazon UK
Book reader
“Thoroughly informative and engaging [...] I am going straight back for a re-read.”
Andy Kirk
Book reader
“I can say he had me immediately when I saw Rule One 'Accept How Complex the World Is'. Bravo Kiko!”
EL PAÍS
Review by Bernardo Marín
“Common sense to navigate the data jungle.”
Antonio Ortiz
Author of '500 Error'
“There's something that Kiko has managed to evoke in me with this book, and it's that intellectual satisfaction you get when something complex and important turns out to be interesting and clear. Highly recommended.”
Adam Kucharski
Autor de Las Reglas del Contagio
“If you want to get better at interpreting and explaining data, I’d recommend Think Clearly by Kiko Llaneras. It’s full of great data journalism insights and examples.”
Alberto Cairo
Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the University of Miami
Amazon
Book reader
“It's a very quick read, written in an engaging style with lots of examples […] It is divided into eight rules and proposes many practical cases. Highly recommended.”
El Confidential
Ramón González Férriz
Simon Ings
Book Reader
“A refreshingly positive take on number and measurement. The trick to thinking with data is to stop taking the stuff on trust, and start learning how to use it. Practical tools and shortcuts make this a compelling, intellectual self-help book.”
Amazon
Book Reader
“The book is easy to read. It's accessible to a wide audience. It's entertaining while being educational. It contains numerous real-world examples to illustrate concepts and is full of interesting anecdotes and fascinating details.”
📗 The Back Cover
"Think Clearly" is an essential guide to decoding the complexities of today's world. It will transform how you see and use data in every aspect of your life.
It’s almost impossible to feel confident we’ve made the right choice when we are constantly faced with conflicting data. From choosing the right school for our children to understanding major social and political events, making informed decisions can feel overwhelming. In a world overflowing with data, it is more important than ever to decipher what the numbers tell us.
Drawing on years of work interpreting and explaining data about everything, renowned data journalist Kiko Llaneras offers practical tools and shortcuts to help us understand numbers and make better decisions with a quantitative mindset.
Through fascinating examples, he reveals the surprising insights that a data-driven perspective can offer:
What caused the Chernobyl disaster
How Barack Obama made decisions and slept so peacefully during his presidency
What are the secrets of superforecasters
Why so many footballers are born in January
A couple of pages from the book
Kiko Llaneras
Kiko Llaneras holds a PhD in engineering and is a data journalist at EL PAÍS. He writes to explain all kinds of topics, from elections to social changes.
Previously, he spent 10 years in research.
He has 100,000 followers on X/Twitter and a paid newsletter with 35,000 readers.
