Conversations on Data Science

by Roger D. Peng

Roger Peng and Hilary Parker started the Not So Standard Deviations podcast in 2015, a podcast dedicated to discussing the backstory and day to day life of data scientists in academia and industry. This book collects many of their conversations about data science and how it works (and sometimes doesn't work) in the real world.

72 pages, ebook

Published July 7, 2016

Reviews

[Héctor Iván Patricio Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a transcription of some of the episodes of the NSS podcast.

They talk about divergent topics but almost all of them are very interesting.

Some of the topics that caught my attention are:

- The difference between Data Science in industry and academy
- How a team contributes to getting the work done
- How managers contribute to the success of the technical people

Interested and quick read.

[Daron Yondem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much liked the idea of the book and never imagined a written version of a podcast can be so much fun to read. Loved the discussions in the book. I wish it was longer.

[Aina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is based on conversations between two data scientists, one stayed in academia, the other one transitioned to industry (Etsy). It’s insightful to hear these people compare what they do on a daily basis, draw out some differences and similarities, advantages and disadvantages. Loved what Hilary did to “fit” in at R conferences with their almost 100% male participation. Loved the ggplot versus Base R debate that ruined a wedding, though this one is not as nasty as Bayesian versus frequentist statistics.

[danielle; ▵ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book is more an ad for a podcast than a book, but it was an interesting enough read nonetheless.

Made me want to work with transcripts to better understand how people speak with one another.

Also made me realize that I don’t talk to enough data scientists, especially those who are very experienced, so this book was a bit like being let into a conversation with people from whom I could learn, which was nice.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine, a conversation on the differences between academia and industry, particularly from data scientists' perspectives. Perfectly fine read, not particularly insightful or offensive.