Synopses & Reviews
In Chance, celebrated mathematician Amir D. Aczel turns his sights on probability theorythe branch of mathematics that measures the likelihood of a random event. He explains probability in clear, layman's terms, and shows its practical applications. What is commonly called luck has mathematical roots and in Chance, you'll learn to increase your odds of success in everything from true love to the stock market. For thousands of years, the twin forces of chance and mischance have beguiled humanity like none other. Why does fortune smile on some people, and smirk on others? What is luck, and why does it so often visit the undeserving? How can we predict the random events happening around us? Even better, how can we manipulate them? In this delightful and lucid voyage through the realm of the random, Dr. Aczel once again makes higher mathematics intelligible to us.
Synopsis
Chance defines our life. Will you get the job, the lover, and the money? Now Amir Aczel, in this slim book modeled on his very successful Fermat's Last Theorem, gives readers the tools to minimize, or maximize, chance's effect on their lives. Chance marks Aczel's return to his preferred field: the popularization of mathematics. Here, Aczel explores probability theory and its daily, practical applications, while along the way relating stories of inveterate gamblers who also happen to be mathematical geniuses. With the clarity of the statistician he once was, Aczel analyzes what is commonly known as luck. Alongside chapters on The Surprising Birthday Problem, Coincidences, and How to Make Great Decisions are a history of probability theory and anecdotes of its daily applications.
Synopsis
Modeled on Aczel's successful "Fermat's Last Theorem," this book gives readers the tools to minimize, or maximize, chance's effect on their lives. Aczel explores probability theory and its daily, practical applications, while relating stories of gamblers who also happen to be mathematical geniuses.
About the Author
Amir D. Aczel earned both his BA in mathematics and Master of Science degree from the University of Oregon. Among many other books, he is the author of Entanglement: The Greatest Mystery in Physics; The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity; and Fermat's Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem, which was translated into fifteen languages. He is an internationnaly known mathematician and lives in Boston.