chance

A child learns that courage means being a little brave at the right time.

"What do you do with a chance? Especially one that seems too big or too wild or just out of reach? Do you hold back? Do you act like you don't care? Do you let it slip away? This is the story of some remarkable chances and the child who doesn't know quite what to do with them. But the more chances come around, the more the child's fascination grows. And then, one day, a little courage makes all the difference in the world"--Dust jacket.

Reveals the impact chance has on a person's day-to-day life, explaining how wine ratings, school grades, political polls, health, and other factors of daily life are based more on chance than reliable information and examining how psychological factors have led people to underestimate the power of chance.

If Penny Brighton didn't have bad luck, she'd have no luck at all. She lost her job. And her apartment. In the same day. But it's okay, her friend has a cozy storage unit she can crash in. And there's bound to be career opportunities at the neighborhood laundromat - just look how fast that 12-year-old who runs the place made it to management! Plus, there's this sweet guy at the community center, and maybe Penny can even have a conversation with him without being a total dork. Surely Penny is a capable of becoming an actual responsible adult, and if she can do that her luck's bound to change! Right?.

Examines gambling from mathematical, historical, and psychological perspectives, discussing common myths about luck, the psychological aspects of winning and loosing, archaeological evidence of dice games played among Neolithic peoples, and related topics.

Explains the mechanics of randomness in order to help people develop an informed perspective on probability and recognize how many aspects of life are ruled by uncertainty and randomness.

Nine accounts of the roles of coincidence and fate in day-to-day life, including the case of two teenagers discovering they are twins after separate skiing accidents bring them to the same hospital.

A philosophic treatise on the nature and operation of luck, as distinguised from fate and chance, and how it can, to some extent, be tamed and turned to our advantage.