Not an easy read, but definitely worth the effort. I am all in favour of popular science books - I have earned my living as a mathematician for most of my life, but I appreciate a broad view, and am not sniffy about being talked down to, if necessary. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2014. If you like detailed background stories its probably fine. This is not a very short volume, and it deals with some fairly basic principles, albeit repeated in different ways again and again - it just about reaches the ideas of standard deviation and variance by the end. The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Audio Download): Amazon.co.uk: Leonard Mlodinow, Sean Pratt, Gildan Media, LLC: Audible Audiobooks Hello, Sign in. Great read and entertainment for math livers. Account & Lists Account & Lists Returns & Orders. Leonard Mlodinow's The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives is an exhilarating, eye-opening guide to understanding our random world. "Drunkard's Walk" (1960), is an excellent yet quite underrated novel. I expected a book delving into all the random elements that affects us and makes us who we are. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2014. I have seen the odd review or two which criticise Mlodinow for his lack of "mathematical maturity" . He co-authored two books with Stephen Hawking: A Briefer History of Time and The Grand Design. What a beautiful writer he is! Please try your request again later. With examples ranging from stock markets to vodka testing, and concepts from genres as diverse as statistics and chaos theory, the reader will find it both illuminating as well as entertaining. These promotions will be applied to this item: With the born storyteller's command of narrative and imaginative approach, Leonard Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how our lives are profoundly informed by chance and randomness and how everything from wine ratings and corporate success to school grades and political polls are less reliable than we believe. There is some interesting stuff in there, but there are far too many anecdotes, many of them adding very little insight, and the attempts to liven it up with humour left me cold. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 June 2012. This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. I enjoyed this book very much as it challenged and sharpened my ability to reason. I was disappointed in this book. Offering listeners not only a tour of randomness, chance and probability but also a new way of looking at the world, this original, unexpected journey reminds us that much in our lives is about as predictable as the steps of a stumbling man afresh from a night at a bar. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2012. New York Times 'If you're strong enough to have some of your favorite assumptions challenged, please read the Drunkard's Walk, a history, explanation, and exaltation of probability theory.' I had to go back a re-read most chapters to really allow the logic to sink in and be able to explain it to others. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 June 2013. Amazing book. The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. As a previous reviewer has pointed out, there is an obvious trade off between maintaining rigor and providing a book which is easily accessible. This is not a very short volume, and it deals with some fairly basic principles, albeit repeated in different ways again and again - it just about reaches the ideas of standard deviation and variance by the end. Leonard has done a great job. Only the literal last chapter slightly touches this. A drunkard's walk is a type of random statistical distribution with important applications in scientific studies ranging from biology to astronomy. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages that interest you. I don't know where to start so I will go randomly! Please try again. First audiobook is free. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 September 2016. With examples ranging from stock markets to vodka testing, and concepts from genres as diverse as statistics and chaos theory, the reader will find it both illuminating as well as entertaining. How could it have happened that a wine was given five out of five stars by one journal and called the worst wine of the decade by another? A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook, free, 1 credit/month after trial – good for any audiobook, any price, After your trial, Audible is just ₹199/month. The Drunkard's Walk reveals the psychological illusions that prevent us understanding everything from stock-picking to wine-tasting - read it, or risk becoming another victim of chance. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. The latter approach characterises the essence of this book, it is a book for the average reader who does not have much or any prior knowledge of the topics discussed. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives at Amazon.com. The latter approach characterises the essence of this book, it is a book for the average reader who does not have much or any prior knowledge of the topics discussed. There are over one million copies of Leonard Mlodinow's books in print. You might therefore suppose that I had already read everything there was to know about the subject. The book is full of reminders about how math can fool us into pereived coherence. "The drunkard's walk" is a phrase that came into use in the 1930s I can understand general concepts and ideas if they're presented in verbal form. For the love of mathematics though its more of a historical account and entertaining stories centered around random numbers. After reading certain books, the way you see the world changes. Please try your request again later. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Even Roger Maris, who beat Babe Ruth's single season home-run record, was in all likelihood not great but just lucky. Learn more. The concepts are not really earth shattering either. The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives Your Coach in a Box: Amazon.es: Mlodinow, Leonard, Pratt, Sean: Libros en idiomas extranjeros Amazing book. Buy The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Your Coach in a Box) Unabridged by Mlodinow, Leonard (ISBN: 9781596592797) from Amazon's Book Store. ₹199 per month after 30 days. I am all in favour of popular science books - I have earned my living as a mathematician for most of my life, but I appreciate a broad view, and am not sniffy about being talked down to, if necessary. You might therefore suppose that I had already read everything there was to know about the subject. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I was disappointed in this book.