This book serves such an incredibly important purpose in that it really explains the fundamentals of statistics in a way that can be appreciated and understood by the vast majority of reasonably educated laymen.Of course, that in itself begs the question:  so what?  What about statistics is so "important" that the average person should take notice?  Well, for a lot of reasons that Mr. Wheelan explains so well its hard to add anything to it, but I'll give one brief attempt for those of you bothering to read the review:  At its core, statistics is about organizing data in a meaningful way such that we can draw accurate conclusions about our environment...in other words, statistics can help us make sense of the world around us in a very meaningful and practical way.  Statistics is really just a mathematically formalized form of what our brains do intuitively, and without that core concept of filtering and making sense of the information we're exposed to we would all be paralyzed - unable to make associations, draw conclusions, or derive any meaning from our environment.  Learning would be impossible, life would be meaningless, and existence and survival itself would be impossible.  Statistics takes that core function and focuses it in very particular ways, which if done correctly, can yield amazing results that add worthwhile knowledge and positivity to life.  To quote the book, "Statistics is the most powerful tool we have for using information to some meaningful end."Further, if that description doesn't at least somewhat tempt you how about this:  Even if you don't care about statistics, those that have enormous influence on your life and happiness  (e.g. businesses, politicians, government organizations, media, and everybody else that has a vested interested in influencing your mindset, perspectives, and behaviors) very much care about statistics and use them, for both good and ill, to "help" you see and do things a certain way.  Knowledge of statistics can help transform you from "propagandized" to "informed".  This is one of my favorite aspects of the book, that is, the author acknowledges and recognizes the danger of inappropriately used statistics; he even conceived the book as an homage toÂ How to Lie with Statistics: 1st (First) Edition, and as he very correctly points out right in the introduction of the book, "Statistics is like a high-caliber weapon:  helpful when used correctly and potentially disastrous in the wrong hands."Amazingly, this book is a fun and enjoyable read.  No seriously.  Mr. Wheelan exposes himself as a fantastic teacher, bringing an enthusiasm and energy to the subject coupled with a gift of explaining ideas and concepts in a way that most (not just "stat people") can understand and appreciate.Although this isn't a "textbook" per se, I think it remains relevant for the whole spectrum of people from total "newbies" all the way to hard-core statistics researchers.  Why?  Fundamentals.  The author explains the fundamentals in a clear concise way using practical, relevant, and familiar examples from our everyday lives.  For those new to the subject you'll get an "intro to statistics" class from a very gifted Ivy-league professor that will give you a solid well-rooted realistic foundation that you can both apply to your everyday life as well as prepare you for higher level statistics courses if you so choose.  For those already well-versed in statistics or professionals, it will reacquaint you with why what you do matters as well as provide you a wonderful way to explain to others why what you do matters.  Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle in that I've had a reasonably high level statistics background (relative to the average college graduate, anyway) and as I read the book I kept thinking to myself, "Man, if only I had had this before taking my first stats course!"Outstanding book.