Here come the numerati  Stephen Baker's new book, The Numerati,
introduces some of the data miners and number crunchers who are
leading efforts to probe the depths of the global data dump.
The pile of digital data is growing, doubling every 18 months or
less. That pile is the new gold, drawing data miners hoping to
strike it rich by finding patterns and uncovering insights that
can lead to more efficient markets, higher productivity, safer
streets, and the much loved increased profits.  Stephen Baker's
new book, The Numerati (Houghton Mifflin), introduces some of
the data miners, or numerati, who are leading efforts to probe
the depths of the global data dump.  He profiles several
numerati, focusing more on the personalities and potential use
cases than the arcane details of the computer science and
mathematics. Baker, who has written for BusinessWeek for more
than 20 years, paints a rich portrait of how the flood of data
and the efforts of the numerati will transform shopping,
marketing, politics, health ca