The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage)
by Leonard Mlodinow
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Book Summary Information
Author: Leonard MlodinowEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-05
ISBN: 0307275175
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Vintage
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780307275172
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage)
Book Review: Good Book, Though No Earth-shatteringly New Ideas
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this book while perusing the bookstore one day because it seemed like it'd make an interesting read (I was already familiar with Mlodinow as an author). Overall, I'm happy I read the book.
Mlodinow's main thesis is that 'randomness affects our lives far more than most people appreciate.' He does well in supporting this thesis. He mentions, for example, how the difference between an 89 and a 90 in a wine rating can have a HUGE influence on whether or not a wine successfully sells despite the ostensibly nominal difference. He also convincingly argues that certain successful CEOs, movie stars, and athletes (e.g. Roger Maris) probably 'just got lucky' in a lot of instances. He also regales the reader with interesting stories, such as the man who beat the casino by noticing a small scratch on a roulette wheel that he ultimately exploited in his favor.
That said, this book has nothing substantially new to offer anyone who's looking for anything beyond what basic probability theory says. This shouldn't be a problem though since the book is obviously designed for a general audience; it is not meant to be a technical math treatise. As long as the reader keeps this in mind, one will read this book having come away with something positive (entertainment value if nothing else).
Summary of The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage)
With the born storyteller's command of narrative and imaginative approach, Leonard Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how our lives are profoundly informed by chance and randomness and how everything from wine ratings and corporate success to school grades and political polls are less reliable than we believe.?
By showing us the true nature of chance and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow gives us the tools we need to make more informed decisions. From the classroom to the courtroom and from financial markets to supermarkets, Mlodinow's intriguing and illuminating look at how randomness, chance, and probability affect our daily lives will intrigue, awe, and inspire.
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Amazon Guest Review: Stephen Hawking
Published in 1988, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time became perhaps one of the unlikeliest bestsellers in history: a not-so-dumbed-down exploration of physics and the universe that occupied the London Sunday Times bestseller list for 237 weeks. Later successes include 1995's A Briefer History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, and God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History. Stephen Hawking is Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
In The Drunkard's Walk Leonard Mlodinow provides readers with a wonderfully readable guide to how the mathematical laws of randomness affect our lives. With insight he shows how the hallmarks of chance are apparent in the course of events all around us. The understanding of randomness has brought about profound changes in the way we view our surroundings, and our universe. I am pleased that Leonard has skillfully explained this important branch of mathematics. --Stephen Hawking Statistics Books
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