The essays and interviews in Numbers and Nerves explore the quandary of our cognitive responses to quantitative information, while also offering compelling strategies for overcoming insensitivity to the meaning of such information. With contributors from a range of disciplines, this book represents a unique convergence of psychological research, discourse analysis, and visual and narrative communication.

Scott Slovic is professor of literature and environment and chair of the English Department at the University of Idaho. The author, editor, or coeditor of twenty-two books, he served as founding president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment and has edited ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment since 1995. His other recent books include Currents of the Universal Being: Explorations in the Literature of Energy and Ecocriticism of the Global South.

Paul Slovic is president of Decision Research and professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. He studies human judgment, decision making, and the psychology of risk. He is past president of the Society for Risk Analysis and in 1991 received its Distinguished Contribution Award. In 1993, he received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, and in 1995 he received the Outstanding Contribution to Science Award from the Oregon Academy of Science.