The key to success seemed to be in choosing topics that were familiar but where the mathematics behind them was not. The major disappointment in this regard was Chapter 6, Chances of a Lifetime . This overview of probability and statistics was not elevated above the ordinary, as was the rest of the book. Probability is an interesting subject, but the tired example of rolling a die is not. Likewise, the fact that the odds are stacked against the gambler in Las Vegas is hardly a revelation.
Statistics can be fascinating, but harping on the importance of a random sample is exceedingly dull.
It is also likely that the reader is already quite familiar with the basics of insurance policies. Perhaps I found this dull only because the ideas were so familiar to me. I tried to read the chapter by picturing myself as one of my intelligent non-mathematician friends, but I was still bored. I think these ideas were simply too much a part of popular American culture to be as successful as the rest of the book. Overall, the book achieves many of its goals.