这是一本内容丰富且可读性很强的科普书,作者言简意赅地为读者描绘了一个神秘的概率世界,书中避免了冗长的数学推导和复杂的公式,取而代之以妙趣横生的例子,为读者展示了概率在日常生活中所起的作用, 这些例子在具备娱乐性的同时又富有代表性。 比方说，其中有一些是我们生活中不易察觉但与概率密切相关的例子，如:生日问题，购物的最优策略，等车时间问题等，此外，还有一些违反直觉的例子，如:蒙提霍尔悖论、辛普森悖论、决斗的策略等。同时书中也介绍了许多概率统计的应用及其原理产生的背景，如: 贝叶斯法则在医疗诊断中或法庭断案中能提供的帮助等。 本书既适合学生增加学习兴趣，又适合教师作为教学参考。同时，数学爱好者以及概率统计应用的科技人员也能从中获益。

In this important new study Ian Hacking continues the enquiry into the origins and development of certain characteristic modes of contemporary thought undertaken in such previous works as his best selling Emergence of Probability. Professor Hacking shows how by the late nineteenth century it became possible to think of statistical patterns as explanatory in themselves, and to regard the world as not necessarily deterministic in character. Combining detailed scientific historical research with characteristic philosophic breath and verve, The Taming of Chance brings out the relations among philosophy, the physical sciences, mathematics and the development of social institutions, and provides a unique and authoritative analysis of the "probabilization" of the Western world.