The Empire of Chance

Exploring the evolution of quantitative ideas, The Empire of Chance reveals their impact on sciences and everyday life over three centuries.

In The Empire of Chance, readers are taken on a journey through the evolution of quantitative ideas surrounding chance and their profound impact on various fields over the last three centuries. The book intricately connects the origins of probability and statistics in contexts such as gambling and insurance to their contemporary applications in law, medicine, polling, and even baseball. This narrative approach allows for a comprehensive understanding of how these concepts have permeated everyday life and shaped societal norms.

The authors delve into separate chapters that explore the theoretical and methodological implications of chance across disciplines like biology, physics, and psychology. Key themes such as determinism, inference, causality, free will, and the evolving meaning of probability are examined in diverse contexts, showcasing the richness of the subject. Unlike traditional literature that focuses solely on the mathematical development of these ideas, The Empire of Chance emphasizes the broader philosophical and historical ramifications of these innovations.

Written by a collaborative team of historians and philosophers, the book is designed to be accessible to both specialists and general readers. With a focus on clarity and minimal technical jargon, it invites a wide audience to engage with the transformative power of chance as it reshapes our understanding of nature, the mind, and society at large.