Author Talk: Dana MacKenzie

Author Talk with Dana Mackenzie, local author and co-author of The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect About The Book of Why: For thirty years, co-author, Judea Pearl, has been working to restore the lost language of causation to science. All statistics students, and most scientists, have heard the adage: “Correlation is not causation.” While there is nothing wrong with this mantra on the surface, it has been used to justify a virtual taboo against speaking about causation. Pearl’s work has shattered this taboo and placed the study of cause and effect on a firm scientific basis. It enables us to answer—or at least to discuss!—important questions like “Does smoking cause cancer?” or “Was this heat wave caused by global warming?” The Book of Why will replace “Of course we can’t answer that question” with “Of course we can!”