Book details of 'Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk'

Title	Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
Author(s)	Peter L. Bernstein
ISBN	0471295639
Language	English
Published	August 1998
Publisher	Wiley

---

Back to shelf Business and Management
Amazon.com info for Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Score:

Vote for this book

The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk':

Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
The story of risk is, indeed, remarkable, and many times Bernstein skates right up to the point of saying something really profound-- but, regrettably, never actually does so. The introduction points out the importance of risk analysis, especially quantitative, to the development of modern civilization. This explains the emphasis, in the early chapters, on milestones in the evolution of mathematics. (The latter part of the work makes it clear that the author limits "civilization" to the formation of the stock market.) The book is divided into five parts, but since the first 70% of the text is historical and biographical, the divisions are rather arbitrary. Chapter one gives us Bernstein's opinion that gambling and fatalism prevented Greece and Rome from developing risk analysis, the attempted proof being circular and uncompelling. The same amusing but pointless erudition is provided in chapter two, ostensibly about Fibonacci and arabic numerals. Chapter three moves more solidly into biographical territory, with some history of gambling and the beginning of statistics serving as an introduction to Cardano and Italian mathematical schools. In short order we then look at Pascal, Graunt, Halley, statuarial studies, Lloyd's of London, the first steps towards economics, a subjective look at the concept of utility, the law of large numbers (increased confidence in analysis with increased instances), Gauss (and although the point is obvious Gaussian distribution we never quite get there), and Galton and normal distribution. At this point the book almost abandons its previous polish and moves largely into promotional realms, looking at the short and long term activities of stock markets, a brief detour into Victorian studies of economics, more on statistics and reliability, a comparison of Knight and Keynes that isn't really clear on either, game theory as applied to chance, stock portfolios, psychological factors in risk choice, the irrationality of investors, and derivative financial instruments. The book provides some fascinating bedtime reading and a peek at a number of concepts related to statistics, but ultimately does not provide much in the way of an understanding of risk, risk analysis, risk assessment, or risk management. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003
Add my review for Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Book description:

A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller "Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." —The New York Times "An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." —The Wall Street Journal "A lively panoramic book . . . Against the Gods sets up an ambitious premise and then delivers on it." —Business Week "Deserves to be, and surely will be, widely read." —The Economist "[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." —Worth "No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." —Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers "With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." —John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. "An extremely readable history of risk." —Barron's "Fascinating . . . this challenging volume will help you understand the uncertainties that every investor must face." —Money "A singular achievement." —Times Literary Supplement "There's a growing market for savants who can render the recondite intelligibly—witness Stephen Jay Gould (natural history), Oliver Sacks (disease), Richard Dawkins (heredity), James Gleick (physics), Paul Krugman (economics)—and Bernstein would mingle well in their company." —The Australian