Improbable things always happen

Extraordinarily rare events are anything but. In fact, they’re commonplace. An unusual day is when nothing unusual happens. But why?

David J Hand OBE, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Senior Research Investigator, Imperial College London, Author of the Improbability Principle

Why is it that incredibly unlikely phenomena actually happen quite regularly and why should we, in fact, expect such things to happen?

Professor David Hand answers this question by weaving together various strands of probability into a unified explanation, which he calls the improbability principle.

This lecture will appeal not only to those who love stories about startling coincidences and extraordinarily rare events, but also to those who are interested in how a single bold idea links areas as diverse as gambling, the weather, airline disasters and creative writing as well as the origin of life and even the universe.

The Improbability Principle will change your perspective on how the world works – and tell you what the Bible code and Shakespeare have in common, how to win the lottery, why Apple's song shuffling was made less random to seem more random. Oh and why lightning does in fact strike twice...

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