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Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, by Peter L. Bernstein
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A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller
"Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." -The New York Times
"An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." -The Wall Street Journal
"A lively panoramic book . . . Against the Gods sets up an ambitious premise and then delivers on it." -Business Week
"Deserves to be, and surely will be, widely read." -The Economist
"[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." -Worth
"No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." -Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers
"With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." -John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University
In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today.
"An extremely readable history of risk." -Barron's
"Fascinating . . . this challenging volume will help you understand the uncertainties that every investor must face." -Money
"A singular achievement." -Times Literary Supplement
"There's a growing market for savants who can render the recondite intelligibly-witness Stephen Jay Gould (natural history), Oliver Sacks (disease), Richard Dawkins (heredity), James Gleick (physics), Paul Krugman (economics)-and Bernstein would mingle well in their company." -The Australian
- Sales Rank: #32260 in eBooks
- Published on: 2008-04-21
- Released on: 2008-04-21
- Format: Kindle eBook
Amazon.com Review
With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking.
From Publishers Weekly
Risk management, which assumes that future risks can be understood, measured and to some extent predicted, is the focus of this solid, thoroughgoing history. Probability theory, pioneered by 17th-century French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, has made possible the design of great bridges, electric power utilities and insurance policies. The statistical sampling methods invented by dour Swiss scientist Jacob Bernoulli undergird diverse activities such as the testing of new drugs, stock-picking and wine tasting. Bernstein (Capital Ideas) animates his narrative with a colorful cast of risk-analyzers, including gambling addict Girolamo Cardano, 16th-century Italian physician to the Pope; and John Maynard Keynes, whose concerns over economic uncertainty compelled him to recommend an active, interventionist role for government. Bernstein also traces the development of business forecasting, game theory, insurance and derivatives, and surveys recent advances in risk forecasting made possible through chaos theory and by the development of neural networks.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
For several centuries, mathematics has been the language of the exact sciences. Only in the 20th century has mathematics become predominant in other fields, particularly economics and finance. In this book, Bernstein (Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street, LJ 12/91), head of an economic consulting firm, traces the development of probability theory from its beginnings in analyzing games of chance, through its application to statistical theory and insurance, up to its present use in developing investment strategies to control risk. He includes excellent sections on portfolio analysis and on investments in derivatives. Bernstein clearly describes the people, their work, and the events that have revolutionized the thinking on Wall Street. A worthwhile acquisition for business and math collections.?Harold D. Shane, Baruch Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Best Book I've Ever Read
By Dave
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I work in insurance and have studied math most of my adult life so I am biased but tracing the intellectual history of what I do today was worth every minute I spent reading this book.
I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys math, finance, insurance, or history.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
The one introduction to risk management
By Jacob Taarup
There are only a few books on risk that can be said to be instrumental in determining how the field has evolved. This book is required reading for any risk scholar and one of the cornerstones in our knowledge on risk and risk management practices.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Odds Are, You'll Like It
By K. Johnson
The origins, historical progression, and modern concept of risk is
presented in "Against the Gods." From the abacus to rolling dice,
annuities, insurance industry origins, explorations, gambling,
military tactics, scientific research, to investing, and more. In
most things in life big and small, there is some element of risk is
involved. This book presents Risk, and how our civilization has
utilized it - and needed it - to evolve to where it is today.
Individuals and groups don't take a risk with the expectation that it
will fail (although there's awareness that failure is a possibility).
The *expectation* is not of failure.
Peter Bernstein made this topic fun and informative for those of us
that are 'non-numerically oriented.' Actually, the concept of risk
involves a lot of non-mathematical and statistical concepts.
The writing style and chapter titles are hip: "The Winds of the
Greeks and the Roll of the Dice, The Renaissance Gambler, The Measure
of Our Ignorance, The Man Who Counted Everything Except Calories, The
Failure of Invariance," and "Awaiting the Wildness," for example.
The modern and Western concept of risk began with the Hindu-Arabic
numbering system that arrived in the West about 700 years ago. The
more in-depth examination of risk truly began during the Renaissance,
resulting in exploration an the exploitation of resources.
In Chapter 10, "Pea pods and Perils," Bernstein emphasizes the
rock-solid concept of "Regression to the Mean" (RoM). This is true
especially concerning the historical trends and patterns of the
financial markets. Yet, he notes how difficult the Predictable
Regression of the Mean is for humans to plan with RoM, and around it.
There are three reasons why humans have trouble using the RoM in
decision-making: 1) It proceeds so slow that a 'shock' will disrupt
the process, 2) When the RoM is reached, as it is periodically
people don't recognize it and hover on either side of the mean, and
3) The old mean may be unsustainable, meaning the old Mean is being
replaced by a new Mean. But....there still is....a Mean.
Bernstein states on page 173:
"If you bet that today's normality will extend indefinitely into the
future, you will get rich sooner and face a smaller risk of going
broke than if you run with the crowd."
This strategy seems oriented for the long-term growth oriented crowd.
We witnessed the sheep and lemmings in the late 1990s that
jumped onto the Tech Bubble Wagon, only to get burned badly by not
getting off in time. (Or perhaps, the sheep got out in time, but the
lemmings didn't.) Some similarities In 2007 with the Real Estate SFH
housing and condo speculation, flipping, and sub-prime mortgage and
ARM market, currently.
A certain percentage of the human population are basically, lemmings.
Bernstein spent some time on Jacob Bernoulli. Bernoulli's notion of
"satisfaction resulting from any small increase in wealth will be
inversely proportionate to the quantity of good previously
possessed." And perhaps this is why King Midus was an unhappy man.
What are the consequences of excluding, avoiding, or making risk
illegal? In modern times, when the Soviets tried to administer
uncertainty out of existence through the government fiat and
planning, they choked off social and economic progress. Communism is
contrary to human nature. But much of it was that communism took
away the concept of risk.
Risky Businesses, or business involving risk: the insurance industry
actually goes back to the Code of Hammurabi in 1800 BC. Called
"Bottomry," the owner of the ship would take out a loan to finance a
ship's voyage. No premiums were every paid but if the ship was lost,
the loan didn't have to be repaid.
The concept of life insurance basically began in Greece and Rome. In
the Middle Ages, the growth in trade spurred the insurance and
finance industries in Western Europe.
Tons of info. on common things we usually don't think of know much
about, that you can further delve into: The American game of "craps"
came to Europe via the Crusades. The mathematical invention of the
"0" and the abacus which still is in our roots. The Abacus is the
oldest counting instrument in our history. The word "Abacus" comes
from the Greek word for "sand" and "calculate" comes from the Latin
word for pebble, "calculus."
John Von Neumann invented Game Theory. Defeat is highly likely of
you play to win rather than avoid losing. True in everyday business.
There are benefits to cooperation, that produces two winners or
semi-winners rather than on loser and one winner.
A great book. If you read it, I think the odds are that that you'll
like it. :)
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