Friday, March 26, 2010

How Humans Broke Free From Soothsayers

Bernstein traces that moment to when the modern theory of probability was accidentally developed by Pascal and Fermat when challenged with a centuries-old puzzle posed by an Italian monk. This was to provide a strong starting point for humans to use numbers in making decisions about the future. And this meant the beginning of the end for soothsayers.

His award-winning bestseller chronicles our progress in improving the mouse-trap over several centuries. The late John Kenneth Galbraith recommended that no one should miss it. You can have it sent to you by clicking on the image below.

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

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