Taking Chances

Taking Chances

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Summary

What are the odds against winning the Lottery, making money in a casino, or backing the right horse? Every day, people make judgements on these matters, yet many of us are ignorant of how probability works. This exploration reveals traps and fallacies in the field, describing and analysing a variety of situations where chance plays a role

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Taking Chances by John Haigh

What are the odds against winning the Lottery, making money in a casino, or backing the right horse? Every day, people make judgements on these matters and face other decisions that rest on their understanding of probability: buying insurance, following medical advice, carrying an umbrella. Yet many of us have a frightening ignorance of how probability works. Taking Chances presents an entertaining and fascinating exploration of probability, revealing traps and fallacies in the field. It describes and analyses a remarkable variety of situations where chance plays a role, including football pools, the Lottery, TV games, sport, cards, roulette, coins, and dice. The book guides the reader round common pitfalls, demonstrates how to make better informed decisions, and shows where the odds can be unexpectedly in your favour. This new edition has been fully updated, and includes information on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and "The Weakest Link", plus a new chapter on Probability for Lawyers.
Review from previous edition 'the volume is ideally suited for readers with virtually no training in mathematics, but who are curious about how actually to assess the odds of things like winning a single game at lawn tennis or on which hands in poker one should raise. . This is a book to ponder, savour, study - and give to your mathematically illiterate friends' * The Times Higher Education Supplement *
'(an) impressively comprehensive new book on the wonders of probability' * The Sunday Telegraph *
John Haigh is Reader in Statistics at the University of Sussex. His interest in probability was awakened by various card games, and he has made a particular study of lotteries, cards, and dice.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780198526636
ISBN 10 0198526636
Title Taking Chances
Author John Haigh
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Oxford University Press
Year published 2003-05-08
Number of pages 388
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable