This book was "motivated by the desire to provide a lighthearted treatment of the subject matter [of statistics and probability theory] because mathematics in general and statistics in particular have very poor public images even though these fields are absolutely crucial to the continued functioning of our modern technological society." Areas explored include romance, sex, death, disaster, going to war, striking it rich, encountering danger in the workplace, employment and unemployment, becoming a doctor or lawyer, being audited, crime and punishment, medical procedures and illnesses, getting into an Ivy League school, and becoming a film start, rock star or best-selling author. This conversational style of this text makes a traditionally- academic subject accessible to the general reader. Weaver is an attorney, and the author of several popular science books. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)