Steven J. Gould, the famous Harvard biologist, writes in a piece called ‘The Median Isn’t the Message’ that he was diagnosed in July 1982 as suffering from abdominal mesothelioma, a rare and serious...

Steven J. Gould, the famous Harvard biologist, writes in a piece called ‘The Median Isn’t the Message’ that he was diagnosed in July 1982 as suffering from abdominal mesothelioma, a rare and serious cancer, usually associated with exposure to asbestos. After surgery he decided to check the literature on this illness, and it was very clear: ‘Mesothelioma is incurable, with a median mortality of only eight months after discovery.’ After sitting stunned for some time, he began to think and he asked himself, ‘What does “median mortality of eight months” signify?’ What did Gould want to know?