|  | Author: Peter L. Bernstein
Publisher: Wiley
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  163 reviews
Sales Rank: 2986
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0471295639
Dewey Decimal Number: 368
UPC: 723812295630
EAN: 9780471295631
ASIN: 0471295639
Publication Date: August 31, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 161-163 of 163
 A remarkable story, remarkably told! December 31, 1996
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have enjoyed "Against the Gods" like no book I've read in
10 years. Bernstein tells a remarkable story in a remarkable
way. This well researched and well executed work has jolted long dormant synapses. Buy this book--I'm sending copies to several friends and family members!
Remarkably clear with great historical vignettes December 30, 1996
We go through life, today, laying plans for the future. We consider options, weigh consequences, and make choices. The questions of what to study in school, what professional paths to follow, when to start a family, how to fund a child's education or your own retirement, are all hot topics today. But as recently as 500 years ago, these were not considered actionable choices. The future was in the hands of the fates.
Peter L. Bernstein in this classic book (classic because I've read nothing like it, ever), begins by asking the profound question: What distinguishes the thousands of years of history from what we think of as modern times ? Bernstein asserts that it is the mastery of risk .
What is risk ? Who are the great thinkers who have addressed this question over the last four and a half centuries ? Who showed the world how to understand risk, measure it, and weigh its consequences. ? What are the questions they have asked and how have they come to the answers that have moved civilizations from lives determined by oracles and soothsayers to lives governed by thoughtful self-determination ? How did people channel a passion for games and wagering into economics growth (new industries like stock markets and insurance, improved quality of life (demographics and medicine), and technological progress.
These questions are addressed in highly readable fashion. A key element was the introduction of the Hindu-Arabic numbering to the west nearly 800 years ago. The catalyst was the Renaissance when many long held beliefs were subject to question nearly half a century later. The interplay of gambling and insurance, demographics and astronomy, mathematics and art, academics and cold hearted businessmen work together through time forming the thematic thread.
In accumulating, documenting, and relating the history of complex ideas, Peter Bernstein is a master. He explains complex mathematical concepts in easy to understand terms. Bernstein does not simplify, he clarifies, and that is the strength of his writing. He uses all the wisdom from successful prior careers as an investment counselor and founding editor of a respected professional journal in the field of investment economics to take the complex, the esoteric, the arcane, and tell the story. Vignettes and rich narrative replace formal mathematical expression to make this work appeal a non-technical. There is at least one algebraic solution to a favorite epigram. Bernstein writes to reach a broad audience.
As one who needs to think clearly about the future, as an educated person, a husband, a father, a business man, and as one who is deeply interested in the history and evolution of ideas that affect every aspect of modern life, I strongly recommend this book
There's no risk in buying this book December 17, 1996
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Against the Gods: the Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter Bernstein
It is so good that I cannot wait to tell everyone about it. This is
the story of the study of probability and statistics from early days of dice and cards (gambling) to
its present day of insurance and derivatives (gambling). In this story are the lives of a great
many gambling addicts who helped make the modern world possible. It reminds me of the old
PBS series Connections, where history took so many strange turns to produce modern
technology. I heartily recommend it.
Showing reviews 161-163 of 163
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