The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Book

A condensed guide to life from the bestselling author of "The Black Swan" Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "The Bed of Procrustes" is an invaluable collection of aphorisms navigate the modern world. Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable? In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions contrasting the classical values of courage elegance and erudition against modern philistinism and phoniness. Only by accepting what we don't know he shows can we see the world as it really is. "Happily provocative ...blistering ...his observations concern superiority wealth suckerdom academia modernity technology and the all-purpose ignorant "they" ...very quotable". ("The New York Times"). "A master philosopher". ("The Times"). "Taleb's crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems". ("Financial Times"). "Opinionated and witty...It showcases his wit and learning and provides ways to fillet his enemies". ("Independent on Sunday"). Nassim Nicholas Taleb spends most of his time as a flaneur meditating in cafes across the planet.A former trader he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University. He is the author of "Fooled by Randomness" and "The Black Swan" an international bestseller which has become an intellectual social and cultural touchstone.

The Black Swan : Paperback : Penguin Books Ltd : 9780141034591 : : 28 Feb 2008 : What have the invention of the wheel, Pompeii, the Wall Street Crash, Harry Potter and the internet got in common? Why are all forecasters con-artists? What can Catherine the Great's lovers tell us about probability? Why should you never run for a train or read a newspaper? This title deals with this questions.