7.8 /10 1 Votes
3.8/5 Barnes & Noble Pages 272 pp. Dewey Decimal 519.2-dc22 2007042507 Originally published 2008 Genre Non-fiction | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English ISBN 978-0-375-42404-5 LC Class QA273.M63 2008 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subject Randomness, probability Similar Leonard Mlodinow books, Non-fiction books, Probability books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The drunkard s walk how randomness rules our lives
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives is a 2008 popular science book by American physicist and author Leonard Mlodinow, which became a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times notable book.
Contents
The drunkard s walk by leonard mlodinow how randomness rules our lives
Overview
The Drunkard's Walk discusses the role of randomness in everyday events, and the cognitive biases that lead people to misinterpret random events and stochastic processes. The title refers to a certain type of random walk, a mathematical process in which one or more variables change value under a series of random steps. Mlodinow discusses the contributions of mathematical heavyweights Jacob Bernoulli, Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Blaise Pascal, and introduces basic statistical concepts such as regression toward the mean and the law of large numbers, while discussing the role of probability in examples from wine ratings and school grades to political polls.
Reception
In 2008 the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP) awarded Mlodinow the Robert P. Balles Prize for Critical Thinking for the book.