SuperDebate · Antidebate
David Spiegelhalter
Emeritus Professor of Statistics
University of Cambridge
David Spiegelhalter has spent his career making statistics speak to public decisions.
Biography
David
- Statistics
- Risk communication
- Uncertainty
Sir David Spiegelhalter is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge, where he held the Winton Professorship for the Public Understanding of Risk and chaired the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2005, awarded an OBE in 2006, and knighted in 2014 for services to medical statistics, he led the Royal Statistical Society as president in 2017 and 2018.
His bestselling The Art of Statistics has been translated into eleven languages, followed by Covid by Numbers and The Art of Uncertainty. He presented the BBC documentaries on chance and climate numbers, led the statistical teams behind the Bristol heart-surgery and Shipman inquiries, and collected Guy Medals in bronze, silver, and gold.
A fixture of British media through the Covid crisis, he communicates uncertainty to health professionals, courts, journalists, and policymakers — and still found time for Desert Island Discs and a seventh-place finish on Winter Wipeout.
Upcoming appearance
Can we put a probability on everything?
Antidebate. An online recorded conversation with Robin Hanson on October 9, 2026. The recording will be released afterward.
The matchup.
Antidebate. An online recorded conversation with Robin Hanson on October 9, 2026. The recording will be released afterward.
Churchill College profile (opens in a new tab)Personal homepage, Cambridge (opens in a new tab)Hanson × Spiegelhalter Anti-Debate — follow the recording release (opens in a new tab)What is an antidebate? — anti-debate.org (opens in a new tab)