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"Chance governs all," said Milton, but he was writing about hell, not statistical probability. In the modern world, we assume that Milton's hell is everywhere--that is, that fate is best described in terms of statistics, odds, risks, and randomness. But most people, even many scientists, find probability difficult to understand and often counter to common sense. Mathematician Deborah Bennett looks at the history of statistics, games of chance and the casting of lots, the "Monty Hall" problem, and sources of random numbers. "Every day we can see evidence that the human species does not yet have a very highly developed probabilistic sense." With more books like Bennett's, we may in time become better at it--chances are. --Mary Ellen Curtin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

The big philosophical questions are, "Do unpredictable events really occur by chance or is chance a measure of our ignorance?" and, "Does it matter which it is?" The practical question is, "How do you use a computer to systematically produce `random' numbers, for use in certain applications?" In this easy-to-read exposition, Bennett (mathematics, Jersey City State Coll.) touches on these questions as well as some history of society's interpretation of chance and its relationship to religious beliefs. The descriptions of the methodology of certain statisticians near the turn of the century is particularly noteworthy. Unfortunately, in making the material accessible to the lay reader, many of the interesting arguments and examples are either omitted or touched on too lightly. In particular, some of the mathematics might have been discussed in greater depth. This very short book would have been better had it been longer.?Harold D. Shane, Baruch College, CUNY

Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.