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Chapter one
Seize the Day
What Sea Slugs Taught Us About Our Brain
The simple nerve cells of sea creatures helped scientists fathom human memory.
From the Bottom of the Sea to the Operating Table
How coral revolutionized human bone repair.
Why Do Jellyfish Glow?
A fluorescent protein helped researchers illuminate human cellular biology.
From a Pink Squiggle to the Human Genome Project
This Yellowstone bacterium sparked PCR, one of the great advances in genetics.
The Man Who Kicked Off the Biotech Revolution
The $325 billion biotech industry began with the discovery of an enzyme to slice DNA.
Chapter two
Luck in Society
How Designers Engineer Luck Into Video Games
The responsibilities and challenges of programmed luck.
Even Physicists Find the Multiverse Faintly Disturbing
It’s not the immensity or inscrutability, but that it reduces physical law to happenstance.
Spark of Science: Jon Beckmann
The conservation ecologist discusses the plight of animals in a human-dominated landscape.
Famous For Being Indianapolis
How cities are like Kim Kardashian.
Why Most Planets Will Either Be Lush or Dead
The Gaia hypothesis implies that once alien life takes hold, it will flourish.
The Deceptions of Luck
Nature makes chance, humans make luck.
Chapter three
Check the Math
Investing Is More Luck Than Talent
The surprising message of the statistics of wealth distribution.
The Not-So-Fine Tuning of the Universe
There’s more than one way to build a universe suitable for life.
Are Fantasy Sports Really Gambling?
Fantasy sports are more skill-based than real ones.
Spark of Science: Pardis Sabeti
The computational geneticist explains why she chose research over being a doctor.
Don’t Tell Your Friends They’re Lucky
Luck has a lot to do with success. We just don’t want to admit it.
Chapter four
The Cosmic Lottery
How to Be Lucky
It pays to imagine your life is on a winning streak.
The Multiple Multiverses May Be One and the Same
If multiverses seem weird, it’s because we need to revamp our notions of time and space.
The Coin Toss and the Love Triangle
There are two flavors of uncertainty in our lives. Math helps with both.
Ingenious: Robert H. Frank
Why you should admit you didn’t create your success on your own.
How to Build a Probability Microscope
The surprising mathematics of the extremely rare.
Related Facts So Romantic
“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
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