Free-form entry eg: '125000km', '1.5 million inches', '$67bn', '45000000 AUD', 100years', '123456789', '1 trillion', '1.5e6', '25 million kg'
If you’re looking for numbers on Covid-19, a very good choice is to head over to OurWorldInData.com. Good numbers, good analysis, good visualisations and good interactive tools for exploring the numbers.
Oh, and they cover MUCH more than just Covid-19. Highly recommended.
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer
$267 billion in tariffs. Is That a Big Number?
Is That a Big Number? (the book)
Misplaced decimal point endangers lives
Violent Crime Rate in the USA: 50% down from peak 25 years ago
Making Sense of Air Pollution Statistics
2,043,599 Pennies is a big number but is it Art?
How old are Olympians? (for each sport)
GDP: a Predictor of Olympic Gold?
Guide to Spotting Dodgy Statistics
HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Meets in the Middle
200 Terabyte Mathematical Proof
This graphic, from OurWorldInData.org (always highly recommended) shows, for a series of census years from 1851 to (projected) 2031, how many people would survive to each age in England and Wales. Things to note: the terrible effect of child mortality until 1961, and the fact that if you survived childhood, you had a significant chance of living to 60, 70, 80, even in the 19th century.
https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy-how-is-it-calculated-and-how-should-it-be-interpreted/
This thought-provoking blog post accurately describes one of the most important reasons for mathematical (and other) education: for the habits of thought and not always only for the content.
Numeracy, and a numerate approach to understanding the world, becomes a habit also. Keep asking: “is that a big number?”
https://medium.com/@jeremyjkun/habits-of-highly-mathematical-people-b719df12d15e#.njlr8pyp5
Want more? The IsThatABigNumber book is a celebration of numbers and numeracy. Oxford University Press: July 2018.
Click here to learn more about it.
Click here for Podcast: Andrew Elliott interviewed for New Books Network.