A short history of data
How the evolution of data over centuries has shaped today’s world.
We live in a world where data is everywhere – informing if not governing our lives. But this wealth of data didn’t just turn up overnight. Tim Harford talks to academics Chris Wiggins and Matthew Jones, whose new book How Data Happened aims to explain how the world we know today has been shaped by not just technological developments but battles around how emerging sources of data should be utilised.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
(Data futuristic server room. Credit: Yuichiro Chino/Getty images)
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Broadcasts
- Sat 3 Jun 2023 04:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
- Sat 3 Jun 2023 10:50GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & Europe and the Middle East only
- Sun 4 Jun 2023 08:50GMTBBC World Service West and Central Africa
- Sun 4 Jun 2023 10:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
- Sun 4 Jun 2023 22:50GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 4 Jun 2023 23:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa & BBC Afghan Radio
Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU
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BBC Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.
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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life
