Customer Reviews

Beating Murphy's Law

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the sort of book that continually makes you stop and go, "hmmmm... I wouldn't have thought of that. But it makes sense." Is it a mathematical treatise on probability theory? No. Nor does it claim to be. It is a really fun read though.

I enjoyed the book after I settled in and realized the math was going to be absent or broadly generalized. At first I was concerned with the overgeneralizations of statistics but what the heck, I already knew that stuff. The author takes you through his life experiences as a risk analyst and his anxiety about dating and meeting women. When he finally does meet someone you just want to hit him and say "shut up; you're ruining a great opportunity to meet someone nice"; but he doesn't stop and somehow gets through it all.

This is one of the worst armchair / recreational mathematics books I've read. The author takes a casual tone that becomes flippant and annoying. Moreover, the mathematics and real numbers work are present enough to drive away non-mathematically minded readers but completely lacking in enough detail to hold the remaining readers. I found myself skimming through the chapters desperately seeking a few nuggets of information without having to subject myself to too much of the surrounding patter. This was not at all enjoyable.