Summary of Peter L. Bernstein's Against the Gods

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Gambling has been a popular pastime and often an addiction for thousands of years. It was a game of chance that inspired Pascal and Fermat's revolutionary breakthrough into the laws of probability, not some profound question about the nature of capitalism or visions of the future. #2 The most addictive forms of gambling are the pure games of chance played at the casinos that are now spreading like wildfire through American communities. The New York Times reported in September 1995 that state governments pay three dollars in costs to social agencies and the criminal justice system for every dollar of revenue they take in from the casinos. #3 The law of averages does not apply to games of chance. Gamblers believe that the odds will bring their losing streaks to a quick end, but the law of averages does not hear them. #4 The Greeks, who were the most civilized of all the ancients, had little interest in applying theory to any sort of technology that would have changed their views of the manageability of the future.