Subject: Probabilities (Keywords)

Here, Robert Matthews uses real-life cases to demonstrate different facets of the laws of probability. He shows just how huge their reach can be and that understanding how they work can change our view of a host of everyday phenomena - as well as saving us a great deal of time, money and anxiety....

Uncertainty is everywhere. It lurks in every consideration of the future - the weather, the economy, the sex of an unborn child - even quantities we think that we know such as populations or the transit of the planets contain the possibility of error. It's no wonder that, throughout that history,...

Imagine this: you are browsing used books in a bookstore hundreds of miles from home when you come across a copy of Moby Dick, which you remember reading as a child. You open it and find your own name on the inside cover. What are the chances? This is the question we ask ourselves upon encounteri...

What are statistics and how are they used? What is the golden ratio? This book explores the maths of probability and statistics and shows how it relates to the everyday world with fantastic appealing visuals. It is part of the 'Maths is Everywhere' series, which demystifies all aspects of maths a...

We underestimate the importance of luck in our lives, we think too highly of the golfer who wins the British Open and, if he loses the next tournament, we speculate that he slacked off. Although the winner is surely an excellent golfer, good luck is how the ball bounced and how it rolled afterwar...