The Drunkard's Walk

How Randomness Rules Our Lives

By: Leonard Mlodinow

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In this irreverent and illuminating audiobook, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, chance, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.

The rise and fall of your favorite movie star or the most reviled CEO - in fact, all our destinies - reflects chance as much as planning and innate abilities. Even Roger Maris, who beat Babe Ruth's single season home-run record, was in all likelihood not great but just lucky.

How could it have happened that a wine was given five out of five stars by one journal and called the worst wine of the decade by another? Wine ratings, school grades, political polls, and many other things in daily life 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 fresh insight into what is really meaningful and how we can make decisions based on a deeper truth. From the classroom to the courtroom, from financial markets to supermarkets, from the doctor's office to the Oval Office, Mlodinow's insights will intrigue, awe, and inspire.

Offering listeners not only a tour of randomness, chance and probability but also a new way of looking at the world, this original, unexpected journey reminds us that much in our lives is about as predictable as the steps of a stumbling man afresh from a night at a bar.

©2008 Leonard Mlodinow (P)2008 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"A wonderful guide to how the mathematical laws of randomness affect our lives." (Stephen Hawking)
"If you're strong enough to have some of your favorite assumptions challenged, please listen to The Drunkard's Walk....a history, explanation, and exaltation of probability theory....The results are mind-bending." ( Fortune)

A bit of a disappointment

What did you like best about The Drunkard's Walk? What did you like least?

While there are some interesting things I learned, The Drunkard's Walk was a disappointment. Sure, math is a challenging topic to make interesting and the author tries, but his attempts at levity fall short, his discussion of the characters that gave us modern statistics is still dry, and I struggled just to finish the book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Absolutely not.

Please read the script carefully.

I was a bit thrown off when the narrator referred Bertrand Russell's view of "Native realism" instead of the correct term, "Naive realism". To make matters worse it happened in the 1st chapter. Things like this have me on edge for the rest of the audiobook.

It's almost worse than narrators who can't properly pronounce French, Latin or German words and still attempt to narrate books with foreign language references...

This book can make you love Math!

I bought this book on one of those neat little "get a book for 4.95" windows that happily pop up now and then when you have bought something else. I didn't have high hopes for it but for 4.95 I thought "what the heck?"

After listening to it, I would have gladly paid full price. This book explains randomness and some mathematical concepts in such easy to listen to terms that you find yourself listening to it many times just to remind yourself of some of the cool things this book tells you.

My advice is buy it, and then bookmark every place you hear something you might want to refer back to and label it. I am in no way a math geek, but I love this book.

High quality

Complex subjects explained in a brilliant and understandable way. Mlodinov is up there with the best!

Not an easy read, but certainly worthwhile.

Once you understand the role of random events, the more the role of persistence pays off.

Excellent book

Listen at 1.5 speed, makes it much easier.
A very good book and the author keeps everything interesting.
Well worth your time

Enjoyed

This makes me want to look into probability even more now. I highly recommend this audiobook.

very good

excellent read, I read it 2x, similar to Taleb, but better and more entertaining

Worth the time in accesible information

Worth the time in accesible information. Lots of important basics which aren’t as basic as many think

You might have to read it twice

This is a really great book. A much more in depth and fascinating look at how our lives are governed by chance than any of the recent popular titles that claim to be about the subject. It's read beautifully too with just the right tone of sardonic humour. Some of the ideas did not sink in as I have it on while I am working...I am just going to have to listen to it again