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Our lives are immersed in a sea of chance. Everyone's existence is a meeting point of a multitude of accidents. The origin of the word 'chance' is usually traced back to the vulgar Latin word 'cadentia', meaning a befalling by fortuitous circumstances, with no knowable or determinable causes. The Roman philosopher Cicero clearly expressed the idea of 'chance' in his work De Divinatione: For we do not apply the words 'chance', 'luck', 'accident' or 'casualty' except toanevent which hassooccurredorhappened that it either might not have occurred at all, or might have occurred in any other way. 2.VI.15. For if a thing that is going to happen, may happen in one way or another, indi?erently, chance is predominant; but things that happen by chance cannot be certain. 2.IX.24. Ina certain sensechance isthespiceoflife. Iftherewerenophenomena with unforeseeable outcomes, phenomena with an element of chance, all temporal cause-e?ect sequences would be completely deterministic.
List of contents
Probabilities and Games of Chance.- Amazing Conditions.- Expecting to Win.- The Wonderful Curve.- Probable Inferences.- Fortune and Ruin.- The Nature of Chance.- Noisy Irregularities.- Chance and Order.- Living with Chance.
Summary
This is a unique book on how probability affects our everyday lives. It guides the reader in an almost chronological trip through the fascinating and amazing laws of chance, omnipresent in the natural world and in our daily lives. Along the way many fascinating topics are discussed. These include challenging probability paradoxes, "paranormal" coincidences, game odds, and causes and effects. Also discussed are the interpretation of opinion polls, winning chances as a game proceeds, the nature of randomness, entropy and randomness, randomness in life, algorithmic complexity and the undecidability of randomness. Finally the author discusses possibilities and limitations of learning the laws of a Universe immersed in chance events. This charming book, with its many easy-to-follow mathematical examples, will inform and entertain the scientist and non-scientist alike.
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From the reviews:
"This book gives a delightful overview of Probability, that is Chance, as a phenomenon in both games and life. ... I found this book to be filled with example that I will use in class the next time I teach Probability. ... The author keeps the mathematical prerequisites to a minimum, so that this book would be accessible to an undergraduate ... . I would consider using it as a text for a student who wanted to do an independent study of probability theory." (Barbara E. Reynolds, MathDL, July, 2008)
"This book on chance is a translation of the 2006 Portuguese original. ... it may be read by almost anybody who is interested in the subject of chance." (A. N. Philippou, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2009 a)
