Chance

Fascinating insights into what we call chance, and what it really means.

If the odds against winning the Lottery jackpot are a mindboggling fourteen million to one, why do we persist in thinking we're in with a chance? You and your sibling may have the same parents, but who's to say if you'll be like chalk and cheese, or two peas in a pod? And what makes some species evolve while apparently similar ones die out?

Daily life is like a roll of the dice - full of promise and events that may turn out to be accidental, lucky or unlucky, significant or trivial. But how random are they? What are the chances of something extraordinary happening - and what perils can we avoid by understanding chance's role in our fortunes? And speaking of fortunes, how much are financial markets or gambling truly down to chance, rather than talent?

Chance follows on from the bestselling Nothing and Question Everything in again bringing together some of New Scientist's sharpest minds to explore these tantalising questions. From statistics and probability to the perfect bet, from randomness and coincidence to Russian roulette, sexual attraction, freak accidents, freak weather, Lady Luck and sliding doors, it gives fascinating insights into what we call chance, and what it really means.