Our lives are determined by fortune and misfortune – but nobody knows exactly how this duo really works. In his universal history of chance and fate, Georg Brunold tries to find out more about the most capricious of goddesses, the embodiment of good and bad luck: Fortuna.
In both an instructive and entertaining manner, Brunold follows Fortuna, the sole survivor of heathen divinities, through Antiquity and the Renaissance right up to the modern age. He strolls with her through casinos, peeks over the shoulders of statisticians, insurance mathematicians and risk managers, marvels with her at CERN’s particle accelerators in pursuit of the origin of life and questions Fortuna about her role in the freedom of will. Boethius and Petrarch, Fibonacci and Newton are quoted, as are chaos and game theorists, and brain and creativity scientists.
A book that abounds in astonishing insights and surprising turns, one that shows us what a delight it is to explore a subject area in such depth.
"Fortuna – of all the gods and goddesses from the ancient world, she is the only one who remains as fresh as ever." (Georg Brunold)
