Thomas Nield

Thomas Nield is a consultant, writer, and instructor. After a decade in the airline industry, he authored two books for O’Reilly Media and regularly teaches classes on artificial intelligence, statistics, machine learning, and optimization algorithms. Currently he teaches at the University of Southern California. In another endeavor, Yawman Flight, he is inventing a new category of flight simulation controllers and bringing them to market. He enjoys making technical content relatable and relevant to those who are unfamiliar or intimidated by it.

books & projects by Thomas Nield

Grokking Statistics
  • MEAP began September 2025
  • Last updated April 2026
  • Publication in Fall 2026 (estimated)
  • ISBN 9781633434769
  • 350 pages (estimated)
Included with a Manning Online subscription
  • printed in black & white
catalog / Other / Mathematics
resources: Book forum Source code

Grokking Statistics takes you on a journey beyond mathematics into the fascinating world of probability, prediction, and “what-if” reasoning. You’ll learn the basics of statistics from the ground up as you explore tornado data from NOAA, model the perfect cup of coffee, and accurately test whether a potato chip bag is the size it claims. Written to be practical at every step, this book also takes on ethics and real-world pitfalls, so you can apply statistics responsibly. You’ll also learn how to express statistics in straightforward Python code.

Real-World Workflows with ChatGPT
3 weeks · 2-6 hours per week average · BEGINNER
Included with a Manning Online subscription
catalog / Data Science / AI

Step into the world of AI-powered problem solving. In this hands-on series of liveProjects, you will play the role of a librarian, an investigative journalist, and a data analyst—all with ChatGPT as your AI assistant. First, you will spark community discussion by creating engaging content around a classic American short story. Then, you will analyze a real NTSB report from a self-driving car accident, uncovering possible causes with the help of ChatGPT. Finally, you will work as a data analyst, using ChatGPT’s Python capabilities to explore a bird strike dataset from the FAA. Along the way, you will learn practical AI productivity techniques, integrate multimodal workflows, and develop the ability to use ChatGPT to enhance your thinking and decision-making.

What Causes Bird Strikes
1 week · 4-6 hours per week · BEGINNER
Included with a Manning Online subscription
catalog / Data Science / AI

In this liveProject, you will act as a researcher investigating the causes of bird strikes in the aviation industry. You will work with a dataset and limited context, using ChatGPT to explore the data, generate insights, and guide your analysis. You will use ChatGPT to generate Python code, perform analysis, and challenge your assumptions to avoid bias. The project concludes with a structured summary of findings and exporting your data into a queryable SQL database.

Analyzing an Accident Report
1 week · 2-4 hours per week · BEGINNER
Included with a Manning Online subscription
catalog / Data Science / AI

In this liveProject, you will use ChatGPT to investigate an in-depth report of a self-driving car accident. You will acquire the source material, upload it, and use ChatGPT to generate and refine hypotheses about why the accident occurred. You will incorporate external context to deepen your analysis, turning vague questions into structured insights and expanding your research beyond a single document.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1 week · 2-4 hours per week · BEGINNER
Included with a Manning Online subscription
catalog / Data Science / AI

In this liveProject, you will take on the role of a librarian using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to support a research project. You will develop effective prompts to analyze whether The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is suitable for a new exhibition. After generating analysis with ChatGPT, you will extract relevant insights and use them to create engaging materials for the exhibition.