Fluke: The Math and Myth of Coincidence

Fluke: The Math and Myth of Coincidence

by Joseph Mazur

What is the true nature of chance? This is the question Joseph Mazur examines in his new book. What are the chances? is often the question we ask ourselves when we encounter the strangest and most seemingly impossible coincidences 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 second look at the seemingly improbable, sharing with us an entertaining guide to the most surprising moments in our lives. He takes us on a tour of the mathematical concepts of probability, such as the law of large numbers and the birthday paradox, and combines these concepts with lively anecdotes of flukes from around the world.

How do you explain finding your college copy of Moby Dick in a used bookstore on the Seine on your first visit to Paris? Should we be surprised if strangers named Maria and Francisco, seeking each other in a hotel lobby, accidentally meet the wrong Francisco and the wrong Maria, another pair of strangers also looking for each other?

As Mazur reveals, if there is any likelihood that something could happen, no matter how small, it is bound to happen to someone at some time. If once is a Fluke and twice is a coincidence is three times confirmation?