The Empire of Chance: How Probability Changed Science and Everyday Life [Ideas in Context Series].

Gigerenzer, Gerd; Swijtink, Zeno; Porter, Theodore; Daston, Lorraine; Beatty, John; Kruger, Lorenz.

ISBN 10: 052139838X / ISBN 13: 9780521398381

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997

About this Item

Paperback octavo, very good plus condition. 340 pp. Gerd Gigerenzer and colleagues describe how quantitative ideas of chance transformed the natural and social sciences, as well as daily life over the last 300 years. A continuous narrative connects the earliest application of probability and statistics in gambling and insurance, to the most recent forays into law, medicine, polling and baseball. Separate chapters explore the theoretical and methodological impact in biology, physics and psychology. Recurring themes include determinism, inference, causality, free will, evidence, and the shifting meaning of probability - but in dramatically different disciplinary and historical contexts. In contrast to the literature on the mathematical development of probability and statistics, this book centres on how these technical innovations remade our conceptions of nature, mind and society. Written by an interdisciplinary team of historians and philosophers, this readable, lucid account keeps technical material to an absolute minimum. It is aimed not only at specialists in the history and philosophy of science, but also at the general reader and scholars in other disciplines. (A secondhand POD copy.).

Seller Inventory # 15298

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Empire of Chance: How Probability Changed Science and Everyday Life [Ideas in Context Series].
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 052139838X
• ISBN 13: 9780521398381
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: Reprint ed.
• Seller catalogs:
  • RESEARCH & STATISTICS

About this title

Synopsis

This book tells how quantitative ideas of chance have transformed the natural and social sciences as well as everyday life over the past three centuries. A continuous narrative connects the earliest application of probability and statistics in gambling and insurance to the most recent forays into law, medicine, polling, and baseball. Separate chapters explore the theoretical and methodological impact on biology, physics, and psychology. In contrast to the literature on the mathematical development of probability and statistics, this book centers on how these technical innovations recreated our conceptions of nature, mind, and society.

From the Back Cover

This book tells how quantitative ideas of chance transformed the natural and social sciences, as well as daily life, over the past three centuries