This chapter from The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day illustrates striking examples of rare events that seem so improbable, unexpected and unlikely that they must be coincidental – or maybe not. In this book, author David J. Hand weaves together a set of fundamental laws to explain what he calls the improbability principle, which asserts that extremely improbable events are actually commonplace.
Curious? Download the sample chapter, “Mystery.”
David J. Hand is Senior Research Investigator and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Imperial College, London, and Chief Scientific Advisor to Winton Capital Management. He served two terms as President of the Royal Statistical Society.
