What are the chances of you enjoying CHANCES ARE…: ADVENTURES IN PROBABILITY? There’s nothing probable about it; it all hinges on your reaction the next three words: It involves math.
Man-and-mom team Michael and Ellen Kaplan’s non-fiction book explores probability, a subject we all feared in school but nonetheless has a huge influence on our daily lives. They explain how chance plays a part in healing patients, forecasting storms, waging war, determining insurance rates, believing in God and, of course, winning in Vegas. And they do this with a healthy supplement of charts, graphs, diagrams and illustrations, one of which resembles the Plinko board from THE PRICE IS RIGHT.
But this is not PROBABILITY FOR DUMMIES. Though next a textbook, the text assumes at least some base knowledge of the subject. Otherwise, you’ll be long lost by the time “(1 + 3 + 5 + … +2 n – 1) + (2n + 1) = (n + 1)2″ appears on page 6. Formulas can be off-putting, but if you’re into the works of Simon Singh (THE CODE BOOK, BIG BANG), you’ll likely find the Kaplans’ book relatively smooth and always intelligent.
Recommended for those with a genuine interest, but not for anyone allergic to algorhythms or binomials. –Rod Lott
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