Whether it’s the casualty count in Afghanistan, the national deficit or the size of an earthquake ? numbers help us communicate. But are telling the numbers the best way to tell a news story?

Kaiser Fung, author of, “Numbers Rule Your World,” believes so. Numbers have power. On the other hand, James Geary, linguist, journalist, and the author of “Geary’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Aphorists,” argues that words connect people to a story better than numeral facts.