Publisher's Synopsis
This is the question we ask ourselves when we encounter the strangest and most seemingly impossible coincidences, like winning the lottery four times or Lincoln's dreams foreshadowing his own assassination. But when we look at coincidences mathematically, the odds are a lot better than any of us would have thought. In Fluke, mathematician Joseph Mazur takes a look at the seemingly improbable, taking us on a tour of the mathematical concepts of probability - such as the law of large numbers and the birthday paradox - and then combines these concepts with lively anecdotes of flukes from around the world, revealing that, if there is any likelihood that something could happen-no matter how small-it is bound to happen to someone at some time.
