Fooled by Randomness (Paperback)

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

ISBN 10: 0141031484 / ISBN 13: 9780141031484

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2007

About this Item

Paperback. 'One of the smartest books of all time' Fortune'One of the smartest books of all time' FortuneEveryone wants to succeed in life. But what causes some of us to be more successful than others? Is it really down to skill and strategy - or something altogether more unpredictable? This book is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world.It is all about luck- more precisely, how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences.Nowhere is this more obvious than in the markets - we hear an entrepreneur has 'vision' or a trader is 'talented', but all too often their performance is down to chance rather than skill. It is only because we fail to understand probability that we continue to believe events are non-random, finding reasons where none exist. This irreverent bestseller has shattered the illusions of people around the world by teaching them how to recognize randomness. Now it can do the same for you.Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a radical and paradoxical philosopher for our times. He has spent his life immersing himself in problems of luck, uncertainty, probability, and knowledge, and he has led three high-profile careers around his ideas, as a man of letters, as a businessman-trader, and as a university professor and researcher.He is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University's Polytechnic Institute. His books Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan have been published in thirty-three languages. Taleb refuses all awards and honours as they debase knowledge by turning it into competitive sports. Everyone wants to succeed in life. But what causes some of us to be more successful than others? Is it really down to skill and strategy - or something altogether more unpredictable? This book intends to change the way you think about business and the world. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780141031484

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fooled by Randomness (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141031484
• ISBN 13: 9780141031484
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Everyone wants to succeed in life. But what causes some of us to be more successful than others? Is it really down to skill and strategy - or something altogether more unpredictable?

This book is the bestselling sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. It is all about luck: more precisely, how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the markets - we hear an entrepreneur has ''vision'' or a trader is ''talented'', but all too often their performance is down to chance rather than skill. It is only because we fail to understand probability that we continue to believe events are non-random, finding reasons where none exist.

''One of the smartest books of all time'' Fortune

''An iconoclastic tour de force ... nothing escapes his Exocets'' Evening Standard

''Brilliant'' John Kay

''Excellent and thought-provoking ... an entertaining book'' Financial Times

''Wall Street''s principal dissident'' Malcolm Gladwell

Review

If the prescriptions for getting rich that are outlined in books such as The Millionaire Next Door and Rich Dad Poor Dad are successful enough to make the books bestsellers, then one must ask, Why aren't there more millionaires? In Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a professional trader and mathematics professor, examines what randomness means in business and in life and why human beings are so prone to mistake dumb luck for consummate skill. This eccentric and highly personal exploration of the nature of randomness meanders from the court of Croesus and trading rooms in New York and London to Russian roulette, Monte Carlo engines, and the philosophy of Karl Popper. Part of what makes this book so good is Taleb's ability to make seemingly arcane mathematical concepts (at least to this reviewer) entirely relevant in evaluating and understanding everything from the stock market to the success of those millionaires cited in the aforementioned bestsellers. Here's an articulate, wise, and humorous meditation on the nature of success and failure that anyone who wants a little more of the former would do well to consider. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards