--- product_id: 1594975 title: "The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" price: "93 zł" currency: PLN in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pl/products/1594975-the-drunkards-walk-how-randomness-rules-our-lives store_origin: PL region: Poland --- # The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives **Price:** 93 zł **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives - **How much does it cost?** 93 zł with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pl](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/1594975-the-drunkards-walk-how-randomness-rules-our-lives) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the classroom to the courtroom and from financial markets to supermarkets, an intriguing and illuminating look at how randomness, chance, and probability affect our daily lives that will intrigue, awe, and inspire. “Mlodinow writes in a breezy style, interspersing probabilistic mind-benders with portraits of theorists.... The result is a readable crash course in randomness.” — The New York Times Book Review With the born storyteller's command of narrative and imaginative approach, Leonard Mlodinow vividly demonstrates how our lives are profoundly informed by chance and randomness and how everything from wine ratings and corporate success to school grades and political polls are less reliable than we believe. By showing us the true nature of chance and revealing the psychological illusions that cause us to misjudge the world around us, Mlodinow gives us the tools we need to make more informed decisions. From the classroom to the courtroom and from financial markets to supermarkets, Mlodinow's intriguing and illuminating look at how randomness, chance, and probability affect our daily lives will intrigue, awe, and inspire. Review: Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous! - As a teacher of high school mathematics and statistics, I have read many such books on the subject at hand. Few of them are as readable and enjoyable as The Drunkard's Walk. What Mlodinow's brings to the table is a great sense of humor and a writing style that is entertaining and engaging, with great stories to go along with the mathematical ideas he shares. He brings in historical anecdotes and psychological research to highlight how mathematical truth and human perception clash. I found myself very impressed by his ability to bring in the perfect study or story to illustrate a point. Essentially, the book is a course in Statistics 101, but reading it, you'd never know. It is geared to the average intelligent reader, but there are few mathematical formulas or abstractions. Enjoy! Other related books and how they compare: Against the Gods- The Remarkable Story of Risk: Much drier. More detail, less fun. Fooled By Randomness: Arrogant writing style, too philosophical for my taste. Focus on the markets. Damn Lies and Statistics: Narrow focus on how Statistics can mislead. Good examples, though not as entertaining. Chances Are: A good read, similar content, though this is more engaging. Innumeracy: A must read classic by Paulos. Predictably Irrational: Fun book, similar style but more about behavioral economics (overlaps last chapter of this book) Sway: Pretty good, but not as overarching as Predictably Irrational SuperCrunchers: Unimpressive book that I thought didn't prove thesis well. Review: All looks yellow to a jaundiced eye - A friend who is a journalist recommended me this book over some beers. She quoted as an example the cool fact that Apple made the music selection of the Ipod Shuffle less random so that it would "appear more random" to the listener for not repeating back-to-back the same song or artist. This example shows how we often misinterpret randomness. The book is filled with other interesting situations from the sports world, gambling and a bold bet against an Aussie state lottery, trial by mathematics, education and grading, investing, medical care, and other aspects of our daily lives. The book also recounts in chronological order the major developments in probability and statistics with interesting background information on the mathematician responsible for each breakthrough. At every step the theory is presented in a very simple though meaningful way by use of practical examples. What my journalist friend probably didn't realize is that I am a trained geo-statistician or someone who makes a living by applying probability distribution and statistical analysis to assessing mineral deposits and this gives me special tinted lenses through which I tend to see the world. So here are my pet peeves:: 1 - The book has a table of contents, an index and notes but it doesn't have a reference section or list of quoted books and papers sorted by author. This has become standard in modern nonfiction books; 2 - Randomness is a fascinating subject and the author has researched it well and filled the book with fascinating examples. There was no need for the corny humour; 3 - The book explains how the lack of mathematical notation held back for centuries advances in math and science. The equal sign, according to the book, was invented in the year 1557 by the British mathematician Robert Recorde, but the book does not have a single equal sign or a single mathematical expression for that matter. So it puts us back in the 16th century at best; 4 - In The Blank Slate Steven Pinker explains how the human brain has a simple built in probability calculator. Of course this calculator often miscalculates. An additional chapter on Mlodinow's book addressing behavioural psychology, the physiology and evolution of this primitive built in probability calculator would be, in my opinion, a great addition. 5 - I first read about the "Drunkard's Walk" on the book Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin by Stephen Jay Gould. In that book the allegory included the drunkard walking down a sidewalk with a wall to the right side and a gutter to the left. As the wall is an impenetrable barrier regardless of the randomness of each stumble (to the right or to the left) the drunkard's future is inevitable:: he will end laying in the gutter. With this allegory and a competent introduction to probability the late Stephen Jay Gould tries to prove that the apparent trend of evolution to climb a ladder of complexity with mankind atop is nothing more than a drunkard's walk contained on one side by the lower limit of complexity in living organisms. I prefer Gould's allegory and in many respects I prefer Full House over Mlodinow's book but Full House is focused in evolutionary biology and - what else ? - baseball. If you never had the chance to study statistics in college or if you did it many years ago and never really practised it here is an entertaining way to get a crash or refresher course. If you, like myself, see things through jaundiced eyes then reach down to the bottom of your pocket and the bottom of your purse and pull out that pair of cheap sunglasses... Leonardo Alves Belo Horizonte - Brazil - 2010 ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #53,465 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3 in Chaos Theory #29 in Probability & Statistics (Books) #109 in Pure Mathematics (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,872 Reviews | ## Images ![The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/818ua+dwUiL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous! *by C***K on October 2, 2008* As a teacher of high school mathematics and statistics, I have read many such books on the subject at hand. Few of them are as readable and enjoyable as The Drunkard's Walk. What Mlodinow's brings to the table is a great sense of humor and a writing style that is entertaining and engaging, with great stories to go along with the mathematical ideas he shares. He brings in historical anecdotes and psychological research to highlight how mathematical truth and human perception clash. I found myself very impressed by his ability to bring in the perfect study or story to illustrate a point. Essentially, the book is a course in Statistics 101, but reading it, you'd never know. It is geared to the average intelligent reader, but there are few mathematical formulas or abstractions. Enjoy! Other related books and how they compare: Against the Gods- The Remarkable Story of Risk: Much drier. More detail, less fun. Fooled By Randomness: Arrogant writing style, too philosophical for my taste. Focus on the markets. Damn Lies and Statistics: Narrow focus on how Statistics can mislead. Good examples, though not as entertaining. Chances Are: A good read, similar content, though this is more engaging. Innumeracy: A must read classic by Paulos. Predictably Irrational: Fun book, similar style but more about behavioral economics (overlaps last chapter of this book) Sway: Pretty good, but not as overarching as Predictably Irrational SuperCrunchers: Unimpressive book that I thought didn't prove thesis well. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ All looks yellow to a jaundiced eye *by L***S on January 18, 2010* A friend who is a journalist recommended me this book over some beers. She quoted as an example the cool fact that Apple made the music selection of the Ipod Shuffle less random so that it would "appear more random" to the listener for not repeating back-to-back the same song or artist. This example shows how we often misinterpret randomness. The book is filled with other interesting situations from the sports world, gambling and a bold bet against an Aussie state lottery, trial by mathematics, education and grading, investing, medical care, and other aspects of our daily lives. The book also recounts in chronological order the major developments in probability and statistics with interesting background information on the mathematician responsible for each breakthrough. At every step the theory is presented in a very simple though meaningful way by use of practical examples. What my journalist friend probably didn't realize is that I am a trained geo-statistician or someone who makes a living by applying probability distribution and statistical analysis to assessing mineral deposits and this gives me special tinted lenses through which I tend to see the world. So here are my pet peeves:: 1 - The book has a table of contents, an index and notes but it doesn't have a reference section or list of quoted books and papers sorted by author. This has become standard in modern nonfiction books; 2 - Randomness is a fascinating subject and the author has researched it well and filled the book with fascinating examples. There was no need for the corny humour; 3 - The book explains how the lack of mathematical notation held back for centuries advances in math and science. The equal sign, according to the book, was invented in the year 1557 by the British mathematician Robert Recorde, but the book does not have a single equal sign or a single mathematical expression for that matter. So it puts us back in the 16th century at best; 4 - In The Blank Slate Steven Pinker explains how the human brain has a simple built in probability calculator. Of course this calculator often miscalculates. An additional chapter on Mlodinow's book addressing behavioural psychology, the physiology and evolution of this primitive built in probability calculator would be, in my opinion, a great addition. 5 - I first read about the "Drunkard's Walk" on the book Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin by Stephen Jay Gould. In that book the allegory included the drunkard walking down a sidewalk with a wall to the right side and a gutter to the left. As the wall is an impenetrable barrier regardless of the randomness of each stumble (to the right or to the left) the drunkard's future is inevitable:: he will end laying in the gutter. With this allegory and a competent introduction to probability the late Stephen Jay Gould tries to prove that the apparent trend of evolution to climb a ladder of complexity with mankind atop is nothing more than a drunkard's walk contained on one side by the lower limit of complexity in living organisms. I prefer Gould's allegory and in many respects I prefer Full House over Mlodinow's book but Full House is focused in evolutionary biology and - what else ? - baseball. If you never had the chance to study statistics in college or if you did it many years ago and never really practised it here is an entertaining way to get a crash or refresher course. If you, like myself, see things through jaundiced eyes then reach down to the bottom of your pocket and the bottom of your purse and pull out that pair of cheap sunglasses... Leonardo Alves Belo Horizonte - Brazil - 2010 ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Probability/statistics + cognitive psychology = awesome book *by L***R on November 15, 2009* In "The Drunkard's Walk," CalTech physics professor Leonard Mlodinow goes about explaining probability and statistics in very simple terms, accessible to most anyone with a yearning to know about the subject. Each topic is discussed in its historical context, so you get a good sense of not just the all-important "what" but also who, why and how. The anecdotal presentation of the otherwise dry mathematical topics makes for an interesting, easy, and pleasurable read (without the condescending tone of similar books, e.g. Innumeracy ), though without any equations, your ability to use most of the material is limited. The way Mlodinow presents the topic is certainly thought-provoking and philosophical, but I would urge the reader to remain a bit skeptical. Just as I do not believe in an invisible man in the sky, I similarly refuse to believe that everything I do subject to some other unseen force that decides at a whim whether or not I am successful or not in an undertaking. I guess I lean pretty far to the deterministic viewpoint, but in the context of Mlodinow's arguments, I think "randomness" is a nice way of saying "ignorance." Everything is causal- the outcome of rolling dice, flipping coins, or dealing cards can be predicted with the equations that describe motion- the problem lies in not knowing precisely and exactly the initial conditions and all of the forces during the event (e.g., wind), so to make up for our ignorance we have the field of probability, which tries to use the statistics of past events to predict the future. We can abstract the simple event of flipping a coin to other things, including the most irrational and unpredictable of them all- human behavior- which is where Mlodinow eventually takes his readers. Everything in life, including driving on the highways, winning and losing in the stock market, sports, decision making, perceptions of other humans, music, movies, etc., exhibits "randomness" (also chaos - the so-called butterfly effect, which is not randomness), and we are encouraged to step back and be a little more thoughtful about what is happening around us, and, as the book is ended, to be thankful for the good fortunes we have had thus far. Anyway, I thought this was a great book. I would recommend it to just about anyone. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pl/products/1594975-the-drunkards-walk-how-randomness-rules-our-lives](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/1594975-the-drunkards-walk-how-randomness-rules-our-lives) --- *Product available on Desertcart Poland* *Store origin: PL* *Last updated: 2026-05-20*