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  • Experts

Risk

Human beings are obliged to take risks in all areas of their lives and their work. Miscalculating or misunderstanding them can be extremely damaging in its consequences. And yet human beings are not intuitively good at understanding them. Probabilities do not come naturally to us as a species.

In this section, statistics and probability are covered from a range of angles. Four researchers at Cambridge University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk choose five books that look at threats that could lead to human extinction or civilizational collapse. Going from the macro to the micro, Jason Zweig, personal finance columnist for the Wall Street Journal discusses personal finance, concentrating on the pitfalls of investing your own money, and the importance of developing some understanding of statistics to guard against being taken for a ride. On a similar, but broader theme, Sir David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge,  looks at statistics and risk in general, the history of probability and why human psychology often leads to us perceiving risks wrongly.

Meanwhile, Graciela Chichilnisky, Former UNESCO Professor of Maths and Economics at Columbia University, selects her top five books on risk management, covering catastrophic risks, making statistical decisions and reasoned gambling.

    The best books on Existential Risks, recommended by The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

  • Read
    The best books on Existential Risks - The Last Children by Gudrun Pausewang

    1

    The Last Children
    by Gudrun Pausewang

  • Read
    The best books on Existential Risks - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

    2

    A Canticle for Leibowitz
    by Walter M. Miller Jr.

  • Read
    The best books on Existential Risks - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

    3

    Cloud Atlas
    by David Mitchell

  • Read
    The best books on Existential Risks - Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet by Gernot Wagner & Martin L. Weitzman

    4

    Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet
    by Gernot Wagner & Martin L. Weitzman

  • Read
    The best books on Existential Risks - The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

    5

    The Dark Forest
    by Cixin Liu

The best books on Existential Risks, recommended by The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

In the rapidly-emerging field of existential risks, researchers study the mitigation of threats that could lead to human extinction or civilisational collapse. We met with four researchers from The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, to discuss their recommendations of the best books to get a grasp of this dense subject.

    The best books on Personal Finance, recommended by Jason Zweig

  • Read
    The best books on Personal Finance - Common Sense on Mutual Funds by John C. Bogle

    1

    Common Sense on Mutual Funds
    by John C. Bogle

  • Read
    The best books on Personal Finance - Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky & Thomas Gilovich

    2

    Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes
    by Gary Belsky & Thomas Gilovich

  • Read
    The best books on Personal Finance - Against the Gods by Peter L Bernstein

    3

    Against the Gods
    by Peter L Bernstein

  • Read
    The best books on Personal Finance - Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed

    4

    Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?
    by Fred Schwed

  • Read
    The best books on Personal Finance - How To Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff

    5

    How To Lie With Statistics
    by Darrell Huff

The best books on Personal Finance, recommended by Jason Zweig

The author and Wall Street Journal personal finance columnist, Jason Zweig, explains why there’s truth in the old adage that investors get the returns they deserve, and recommends books that might help you avoid being taken for a ride.

    The best books on Statistics and Risk, recommended by David Spiegelhalter

  • Read
    The best books on Statistics and Risk - The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow

    1

    The Drunkard's Walk
    by Leonard Mlodinow

  • Read
    The best books on Statistics and Risk - Dicing with Death by Stephen Senn

    2

    Dicing with Death
    by Stephen Senn

  • Read
    The best books on Statistics and Risk - How Risky Is It, Really? by David Ropeik

    3

    How Risky Is It, Really?
    by David Ropeik

  • Read
    The best books on Statistics and Risk - Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best

    4

    Damned Lies and Statistics
    by Joel Best

  • Read
    The best books on Statistics and Risk - Do You Feel Lucky? by Kjartan Poskitt

    5

    Do You Feel Lucky?
    by Kjartan Poskitt

The best books on Statistics and Risk, recommended by David Spiegelhalter

Every statistic is the result of someone’s work, and we’d do well to ask ourselves why it was created. That way, says the statistician, we have a better chance of working out when dangers are being overstated and data misused

    The best books on Risk Management, recommended by Graciela Chichilnisky

  • Read
    The best books on Risk Management - Catastrophe by Richard A Posner

    1

    Catastrophe
    by Richard A Posner

  • Read
    The best books on Risk Management - Optimal Statistical Decisions by Morris H DeGroot

    2

    Optimal Statistical Decisions
    by Morris H DeGroot

  • Read
    The best books on Risk Management - The Foundations of Statistics by Leonard J Savage

    3

    The Foundations of Statistics
    by Leonard J Savage

  • Read
    The best books on Risk Management - Essays in the Theory of Risk-Bearing by Kenneth J Arrow

    4

    Essays in the Theory of Risk-Bearing
    by Kenneth J Arrow

  • Read
    The best books on Risk Management - Inequalities for Stochastic Processes by Lester E Dubins and Leonard J Savage

    5

    Inequalities for Stochastic Processes
    by Lester E Dubins and Leonard J Savage

The best books on Risk Management, recommended by Graciela Chichilnisky

Former UNESCO Professor of Maths and Economics at Columbia University selects five intriguing books on catastophic risks, making statistical decisions and reasoned gambling

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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