The Taming of Chance

By Ian Hacking,

Book cover of The Taming of Chance

Book description

In this important study Ian Hacking continues the enquiry into the origins and development of certain characteristic modes of contemporary thought undertaken in such previous works as the best-selling The Emergence of Probability. Professor Hacking shows how by the late-nineteenth century it became possible to think of statistical patterns as…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Taming of Chance as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Are you stuck on a single sentence that keeps expanding but goes nowhere? Then tame it by cutting it down and finishing it off now. Ian Hacking is the master of the subject-verb-predicate sentence in historical writing. And this book, in addition to being a model of stylistic clarity, changes how we think about modernity, mathematics, danger, and risk. You’ll never be afraid of being clear again.

From Joseph's list on against writers’ block.

If you love The Taming of Chance...

Ad

Book cover of Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism

Grand Old Unraveling By John Kenneth White,

It didn’t begin with Donald Trump. When the Republican Party lost five straight presidential elections during the 1930s and 1940s, three things happened: (1) Republicans came to believe that presidential elections are rigged; (2) Conspiracy theories arose and were believed; and (3) The presidency was elevated to cult-like status.

Long…

Want books like The Taming of Chance?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Taming of Chance.

Browse books like The Taming of Chance

Book cover of After Nature
Book cover of Friends of Interpretable Objects
Book cover of We Have Never Been Modern

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in math, philosophy, and mathematicians?

Math 276 books
Philosophy 1,790 books
Mathematicians 38 books