Review by Choice Review
Three well-written, wide-ranging, delightful new books with similar themes have hit the market. Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise (CH, Apr'13, 50-4405) applies statistics to a host of contemporary topics, from gambling, sports, climate, and bubbles, to predicting elections. In Naked Statistics (2013), Charles Wheelan explains basic statistical concepts and weaves them into everyday life. Now financial guru Mauboussin, in this engaging book with rich notes and bibliographical aids, uses statistics to analyze a number of contemporary issues, including sports, though his focus is clearly on the business world and investing. His particular, explicit contribution is to distinguish and untangle skill from luck or chance in accounting for successes and failures. (Silver would term this latter factor "noise"; Wheelan, the "error term.") The dozen chapters split into sections that define, analyze, and then make suggestions for coping with this skill-luck continuum in decision making. Repetition detracts somewhat, and the last four chapters, focusing on the business world, are the weakest. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; students at all levels; faculty; professionals. A. R. Sanderson University of Chicago
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Investment strategist Mauboussin (Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition) offers an intricate and academic look at the relationship between practiced skill and pure luck. As he writes, "much of what we experience in life results from a combination of skill and luck," and the trick is to be able to recognize and gauge the presence and effects of each so we can avoid the pitfall of "twist[ing], distort[ing], or ignor[ing] the role that luck plays in our successes and failures." Mauboussin explores why we have such a difficult time comprehending the influence of luck and the possible analytical tools necessary to understand luck and skill, and attempts concrete suggestions about how to take these findings and put them to work. His analysis focuses on his areas of interest and knowledge: business, sports, and investing. Mauboussin excels at explaining his ideas, many of which are based on complex neuroscience in accessible terms, using case studies and examples from investing decisions, college rankings, and hospital procedures. He is less successful relating theory to specific takeaways for readers, and the writing would have benefited from further editing. Readers should wait for his next attempt. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
