The Broken Dice, and Other Mathematical Tales of Chance

by Ivar Ekeland

Book Overview

Ivar Ekeland extends his consideration of the catastrophe theory of the universe begun in his widely acclaimed Mathematics and the Unexpected, by drawing on rich literary sources, particularly the Norse saga of Saint Olaf, and such current topics as chaos theory, information theory, and particle physics.

"Ivar Ekeland gained a large and enthusiastic following with Mathematics and the Unexpected, a brilliant and charming exposition...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226199924
• ISBN13: 9780226199924
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Even better than his first book

Ivar Ekeland is one of the better writers of popular mathematics. In "The Broken Dice," he continues with the themes explored in "Mathematics and the Unexpected." Divided into six chapters (Chance, Fate, Anticipation, Chaos, Risk and Statistics) the book is an elegant examination of the human struggle to find order in the seeming contingency that is the natural world. Mixed with the mathematical discussions are excerpts from Icelandic sagas, the Bible, and Shakespeare that reinforce the message that our analytical search for meaning is still fundamentally a humanistic endeavor.

intellectual fun

If you had to go through it in graduate school you'd probably agree with me that behaviour under uncertainty is usually handled rather mechanically by professors. You may even have considered that, anyway, not much intuition could be behind those theories. Ivar Ekeland shows in this book that dealing with the fundamentals of expectations, probabilities, games, and risk can be fun, and you get the intuition to start thinking by yourself as well. Early morning reading, though.