The Drunkard's Walk

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives
Author	Leonard Mlodinow
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Randomness, probability
Genre	Non-fiction
Published	2008 (Pantheon Books)
Pages	272 pp.
ISBN	978-0-375-42404-5
Dewey Decimal	519.2-dc22 2007042507
LC Class	QA273.M63 2008

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives is a 2008 popular science book by American physicist and author Leonard Mlodinow, which became a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times notable book.[1]

Overview

The Drunkard's Walk discusses the role of randomness in everyday events, and the cognitive biases that lead people to misinterpret random events and stochastic processes. The title refers to a certain type of random walk, a mathematical process in which one or more variables change value under a series of random steps. Mlodinow discusses the contributions of mathematical heavyweights Jacob Bernoulli, Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Blaise Pascal, and introduces basic statistical concepts such as regression toward the mean and the law of large numbers, while discussing the role of probability in examples from wine ratings and school grades to political polls.[1]

Reception

In 2008 the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP) awarded Mlodinow the Robert P. Balles Prize for Critical Thinking for the book.[2]

gollark: What's wrong with hellhorses?

gollark: I, personally, breed most of my stuff for no reason weekly.

gollark: Are random junk, I mean.

gollark: Let's be honest, they mostly are.

gollark: I really need to stop getting any hatchlings which come up on the notice board.

References

Mlodinow, Leonard (May 2009). The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Toronto: Vintage Books. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-307-27517-2.
Karr, Barry. "CSI's Balles Prize Goes to Physicist/Author Leonard Mlodinow". Skeptical Inquirer. CSICOP. Retrieved 18 August 2016.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[mlodinow-1] Mlodinow, Leonard (May 2009). The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Toronto: Vintage Books. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-307-27517-2.

[2] Karr, Barry. "CSI's Balles Prize Goes to Physicist/Author Leonard Mlodinow". Skeptical Inquirer. CSICOP. Retrieved 18 August 2016.