Twisted Logic: Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Big Questions

Twisted Logic: Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Big Questions draws upon an array of popular and novel puzzles and paradoxes to help us understand and navigate our everyday world, as well as engaging with the big questions beyond. It will appeal to all those interested in learning about twisted logic and the ways in which intuition and common sense can sometimes lead us astray. The book is designed for everyone and is accessible to the layman and student alike. No prior mathematical skill or technical knowledge is required.

Features:

. Provides a personal toolkit for spotting common mistakes and elevating the thinking process

. Demystifies common issues in chance, reason, and decision-making

. Offers a guide and companion to games of chance and skill

. Delves into quirky questions and paradoxes in sports and finance

. Explores the exciting and surprising landscape of Bayesian reasoning

. Challenges common ideas and provides counter-intuitive solutions

. Tackles life’s biggest questions, and ponders the very nature of existence

. Uncovers surprising connections and strange correlations

. Discovers the best strategies for finding everything from a place to eat to a life partner

. Asks big ＂When Should We?＂ questions

Get ready to embark on an exciting journey into the weird and wonderful world of chance, reason, and intuition, as we make the seemingly complex simple and the seemingly mundane extraordinary!

Leighton Vaughan Williams, PhD, FHEA, has researched and published extensively in the areas of probability, risk, and choice under uncertainty, notably as Professor of Economics and Finance at Nottingham Business School, as well as Director of the Betting Research Unit and of the Political Forecasting Unit. He has given expert witness evidence before national and international courts of law, including the UK’s Central Criminal Court and Scotland’s Court of Session, as well as select committees of the House of Commons and House of Lords. He has served as a senior adviser to UK Government departments, including HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as well as the National Audit Office.

Professor Vaughan Williams has taught and created courses nationally and internationally on the application of the tools of probability and statistics to real-world problems and paradoxes, and has organised a series of international conferences and symposia. He has served widely in editorial roles for leading academic journals and is an experienced consultant and expert witness. He is the author of ’Probability, Choice, and Reason’, published by Chapman & Hall/CRC in 2021 and serves as President of Economic Issues.

Leighton was educated at University College, Cardiff (graduating summa cum laude), and at Hertford College, Oxford University.