What is randomness and why are probabilities so hard to estimate?
Comments: This small, short book covers the history of probabilistic thinking and supplies a readable introduction to probability and randomness. It begins simply with a description of early randomizers like dice and a discussion of the basics of probability, progresses through the 1st serious studies of the subject from roughly 1500 to 1800, and ends with more advanced philosophical questions like how randomness is defined and whether or not it exists. Along the way the author discusses why people have used chance to make decisions and the fairness of such decisions, the role of gambling in our understanding of probability, why some reject the concept of random chance, and why probability is so counter-intuitive. The text is only 188 pages however the book is well-researched with many footnotes and a 22 page bibliography. I consider it a great book for the general public because I believe almost all people have a poor understanding of probability, a subject of ever-increasing importan
