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Engineering Exhibitions and Events
News Release from: Institution of Engineering and Technology
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 09 March 2007
Mathematics of risk at Savoy Place
Science writer Simon Singh will be speaking at the Institution of Engineering and Technology on 15th March 2007 for the one hour Kelvin Prestige Lecture.
"Risk, chance, probability and gambling", a talk by renowned scientist Simon Singh, could be just the ticket for success at the casino, avoiding that oncoming bus or landing that promotion Science writer Simon Singh will be speaking at the Institution of Engineering and Technology on 15th March 2007 for the one hour Kelvin Prestige Lecture
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 17 Oct 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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Singh will look at the mathematics behind various situations involving luck, risk and coincidence from the casino to the hospital and from the courtroom to the supernatural.
Our lives are dominated by chance and Singh will give examples that illustrate how our institution often misleads us.
However, he will demonstrate how mathematics and critical thinking can help us live, thrive and survive.
Singh said: "Some people are born to take risks, while others prefer to play safe".
"Whatever your views, the talk will show how mathematics can be used to influence your decision and to think in a logical way".
Singh is author of "The code book, big bang and Fermat's last theorem", which was the first book about mathematics to become a number-one bestseller in the UK.
Singh added: "Sometimes is hard to see how mathematics affects our everyday lives, but probability is an area of mathematics that everyone can relate to".
"I will be making a few bets with the audience, and if they can make the right decision then they might win GBP 5".
"But the lecture is about much more than gambling with money, because probability touches on everything from the risk of a bird flu outbreak to the chances that a defendant is guilty".
The talk is free to attend but people will need to register via the IET website. Request free introductory details about products from Institution of Engineering and Technology ...
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