Rating: 4.0/5 Stars
Rank: 1095

This is a journey that begins with the importatioin of the arabic numbering system to the West and ends with super-computer crunched chaos theory.

In between lie the fathers (all men) of mathamatical understanding. These individuals are the story of AGAINST THE GODS.

Bernstein survey's the intellectual contrubutions of each as man strives to understood basic probability, the law of large numbers, bell curves, regression analysis, uncertainty theory and everything else you dimly remember from college statistics classes.

He spends the latter quarter of the book on risk and probability theory in the financial world, where theorists have developed portfolio analysis, volitility studies, hedging and sidebets and other quantatative market plays.

Credit to the author for balancing his story against the very high probability that much of what these thinkers sought may be unattainable.

He frequently mentions the humanity that these people try to explain with laws formulated from observations in the natural world.

Although rightly impressed with his intellectual frontiersmen, Bernstein has no problem recognizing that the uncertainty that has always eluded explanation is us and that it helps make life worth living and progress possible.

This book is interesting for what it is. A story of the development of theories. I would have enjoyed more of a focus on the applications of this intellectual progression that led to the development of insurance and financial markets.

Though these elements are mentioned often, they provide the backdrop for Bernsteins survey of theory.

I suspect another book awaits someone who will reverse the order and use theory as a backdrop for the mechanisms that have allowed the modern economy to flourish and develop.

The story of insurance, speculation, the beginning of capital markets, a monied economy and the like spring from the intellectual movements so well chronicled by Bernstein.

However, they are not the focus, which has the habit of making the reading dry and sometimes uninteresting to those not captivated by the actual numeric analyses and proofs which are amply offerred over the course of the book.

If you like intellectual history and are looking to tie the building blocks of probability and risk analysis together over the last four centuries than this book may well captivate you. If you are seeking an understanding of how these discoveries were applied to forge the modern economy we now take for granted you will find parts interesting but may well feel that the story is incomplete.

Customer Reviews

51.	Managing risk - creating order from chaos
	(Wolverhampton, W. Midlands Great Britain) April 7, 1999 - 3.0/5 stars
	Not what I expected at all. Very much an accompaniment to Fermat's Last Theorem rather than the analysis of risk I was expecting. Risk from risi care meaning to dare: i.e. risk is a choice not a fate. Mathematically... read full review
Current Review
52.	You'll Probably Find Parts Interesting (I'm 95% certain)
	(Wilmington, DE) February 18, 2000 - 3.0/5 stars
	Bernstein has written a thorough book that traces the linear progression of man's understanding of probability and risk.This is a journey that begins with the importatioin of the arabic numbering system to the West and ends... read full review
53.	What Is Life About: A Book That Adds Insight.
	(Las Vegas, NV USA) July 14, 2001 - 3.0/5 stars
	Centuries ago it was considered evil to predict the future. Even games of chance were played with little understanding of the odds. Today predicting the future, while no longer the forbidden fruit, is done with... read full review

Editorials

	Review
	"I must say that I enjoyed the book, it was written in a light-hearted manner".(Money Matters, April 2001) No. 7 bestseller in 'Risk'(erivativesreview.com, December 2001)
	The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
	To what degree should we rely on our past to determine our future? This riveting book describes how the rational process of risk taking propelled the progress of science and enterprise into the modern world of speed, power,... read full editorial
	Back Cover Copy
	A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller "Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from... read full editorial

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