Mikhail Zhilkin, a data scientist who has worked on projects ranging from Candy Crush games to Premier League football players’ physical performance, shares his strong views on some of the best and, more importantly, worst practices in data analytics and business intelligence. Why data science is hard, what pitfalls analysts and decision-makers fall into, and what everyone involved can do to give themselves a fighting chance—the book examines these and other questions with the skepticism of someone who has seen the sausage being made.

Honest and direct, full of examples from real life, Data Science Without Makeup: A Guidebook for End-Users, Analysts and Managers will be of great interest to people who aspire to work with data, people who already work with data, and people who work with people who work with data—from students to professional researchers and from early-career to seasoned professionals.

Mikhail Zhilkin is a data scientist at Arsenal FC. He has previously worked on the popular Candy Crush mobile games and in sports betting.