The Black Swan, Nicholas Nassim Taleb

The phenomenal international bestseller that shows us how to stop trying to predict everything - and take advantage of uncertainty.

What have the invention of the wheel, Pompeii, the Wall Street Crash, Harry Potter and the internet got in common?

Why are all forecasters con-artists? Why should you never run for a train or read a newspaper?

This book is all about Black Swans: the random events that underlie our lives, from bestsellers to world disasters. Their impact is huge; they're impossible to predict; yet after they happen we always try to rationalize them.