Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

. 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. 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

Must read P. Kim One of my favorite books. I recommend to anyone who is interested in investing.The book shows how man see and try to manage risk throughout history. The book covers from the development of numbers to probabilityand up to complex financial instruments. By reading this book, you will have a better understanding of risk and appreciate all the battles andsacrifices to manage risk.Overall, a fantastic book and look forward to reading it again.. Ian Guard said Holy Smokes!!!!. Fantastic book. It's one of those "everybody should read it" books. Unfortunately, it was a little bit of work. I don't really know why because the way Bernstein presented the history of risk management through the history of math and, in particular, probability was truly amazing. In fact, I think the way Bernstein develops the topic through people and their discoveries up to modern times was outstanding. I think he organized the story in remarkable way and I found inspiration in just about every chapter. Anybody who thinks that they want to invest money should read this book. However, I also feel that anybody who wants . how much I love this book! Flavio Tosi - Business Exploration When I read this I was working on a Risk Management project that aimed to put under control a portfolio of 150 projects, worth 1 billion Dollars. Each project was broken down in 10 to 20 milestones, and the goal was to be able to predict quarterly cash collections.I was trained on statistics, SPC, Project Management etc etc, but I felt that something was missed in the classical approaches to risk management.So I went for a book that could give me a real insight to the matter.This is definitivelly the book. Don't even think to start study Statisitcs without reading it. Don't even think to approach risk management without

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 Philoso