The roots of the word "numerati"

It was long my goal to make "numerati" a common word. Most of us don't get too many chances in life to create a new word, and I thought I had one. And early in 2009, I thought I had hit pay-dirt. William Safire, who must have been quite ill by that time, sent word through an assistant that he wanted to origins of numerati for a column he was writing int the Times. I sent him a long and...