Knock on Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything

by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, author of the bestseller Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was born on Friday the thirteenth, a fact that he discovered long after he had become one of the world’s pre-eminent statisticians. Had he been living ignorantly and innocently under an unlucky cloud for all those years? Or is thirteen just another number? As a scientist and a man of reason, Rosenthal has long considered the value of luck, good and bad, seeking to measure chance and hope in formulas scratched out on chalkboards.

In Knock on Wood, with great humour and irreverence, Rosenthal divines the world of luck, fate and chance, putting his considerable scientific acumen to the test in deducing whether luck is real or the mere stuff of superstition.

 

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

352 pages, Hardcover

Published October 2, 2018

Reviews

[Warren Mcpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exploration of luck and many of the ways our perceptions reflect the role of chance.
The theme holds the book together loosely as the book drifts from individual stories to sports and lotteries. It is nice to see some common situations reviewed with clear statistical analysis. Chapters on astrology and religion feel purposeful.
The book is quick and interesting.

[Bill Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did fate lead me to this book? According to the book luck did. Book is a light read and while it can belabour points at times it moves quickly among various “lucky” scenarios and exposes luck traps in a straightforward and understandable way. Overall a good randomness book.

[Fiona Fang · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm so sorry jeff but it's giving reddit atheist

[STEPHEN PLETKO!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

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I’m lucky I read this book

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“In the pages that follow, I will discuss various examples of luck at work and try to sort out luck’s meaning—or lack thereof…

If we can figure out which lucky events are just random, dumb luck and which are caused by actual…influences…then we can make better decisions, take more reasonable actions, and better understand the world around us.

I hope that, by the time you finish reading this book, you will have that luck serenity [and] that luck knowledge [as well as] that luck wisdom.”

The above quote (in italics) comes from this enthralling and informative book by Jeffery S. Rosenthal. He is an award-winning Canadian statistician and author as well as a professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Interestingly (or perhaps unluckily?), Rosenthal was born on Friday the thirteenth.

In this well-written, sometimes humorous, formula-free book, Rosenthal delves into the worlds of luck, fate, and chance to deduce whether luck is real or just the stuff of superstition.

Rational readers will probably immensely enjoy this book, irrational readers not so much.

I guarantee that after you read this book, you will think differently about the role of luck in your life.

Finally, at the back of this book is a handy two-page glossary. Even though it is not explicitly stated, this glossary is very important for following this book’s main narrative. If you can, I would photocopy these two pages so you don’t have to be constantly flipping back and forth.

In conclusion, this book is a must-read for those who want to understand why things happen. I also learned that even if you’re born on Friday the thirteenth, you can still write a good book!

Good luck!!

(2018; 23 chapters; main narrative 270 pages; acknowledgements; about the author; glossary; notes & sources; index)

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