num_pages: 304
description: A celebrated mathematician explores how math helps us make sense of the unpredictableWe would like to believe we can know things for certain. We want to be able to figure out who will win an election if the stock market will crash or if a suspect definitely committed a crime. But the odds are not in our favor. Life is full of uncertainty --- indeed scientific advances indicate that the universe might be fundamentally inexact --- and humans are terrible at guessing. When asked to predict the outcome of a chance event we are almost always wrong.Thankfully there is hope. As award-winning mathematician Ian Stewart reveals over the course of history mathematics has given us some of the tools we need to better manage the uncertainty that pervades our lives. From forecasting to medical research to figuring out how to win Let's Make a Deal  Do Dice Play God ? is a surprising and satisfying tour of what we can know and what we never will.
language: English
title: Do Dice Play God?: The Mathematics of Uncertainty
publisher: Basic Books