The Undoing Project
A Friendship that Changed the World
by Michael Lewis
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Pub Date Dec 06 2016 | Archive Date Apr 25 2017
Penguin Books (UK) | Allen Lane
Description
'Michael Lewis could spin gold out of any topic he chose ... his best work ... vivid, original and hard to forget' Tim Harford, Financial Times
'Gripping ... There is war, heroism, genius, love, loss, discovery, enduring loyalty and friendship. It is epic stuff ... Michael Lewis is one of the best non-fiction writers of our time' Irish Times
From Michael Lewis, No.1 bestselling author of The Big Short and Flash Boys, this is the extraordinary story of the two men whose ideas changed the world.
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky met in war-torn 1960s Israel. Both were gifted young psychology professors: Kahneman a rootless son of holocaust survivors who saw the world as a problem to be solved; Tversky a voluble, instinctual blur of energy. In this breathtaking new book, Michael Lewis tells the extraordinary story of a relationship that became a shared mind: one which created the field of behavioural economics, revolutionising everything from Big Data to medicine, from how we are governed to how we spend, from high finance to football. Kahneman and Tversky, shows Michael Lewis, helped shape the world in which we now live - and may well have changed, for good, humankind's view of its own mind.
'A brilliant writer ... the book is a masterclass' Steven Poole, Spectator
'A new book by Michael Lewis promises an absorbing story, dazzling ideas, journalistic flair and originality. He achieves this with extraordinary consistency. In The Undoing Project he has achieved it again' Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780241254738 |
PRICE | £25.00 (GBP) |
PAGES | 368 |
Featured Reviews
The Undoing Project is gripping non-fiction that outlines Psychological theory alongside the lives of those studying it. It tells the fascinating story of the birth of behavioural economics, but more specifically of the lives of two of the most important Psychologists behind it - Danny Kahneman and Amos Tversky. As someone who had already heard of them and many of their theories due to an undergrad degree in Psychology, there wasn't much new I learnt about their published research, but there was an awful lot I learnt about Kahneman and Tversky themselves. It was much more biographical than I was expecting, and I enjoyed hearing about the events surrounding some of their famous research.
The chapters lead from the author's history and the events Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is based on, to Kahneman's childhood history, to the history of WWII and war in Israel, to Skinner's work, and eventually to Kahneman and Tversky's collaboration. Whilst it does seem like it jumps all over the place at the beginning, the author does a good job of weaving a story and linking it all together. Lewis has an uncanny ability to make non-fiction read as though you're listening to someone tell you a story.
Whilst you definitely don't need to know anything about Psychology to find this book fascinating, I would most strongly recommend The Undoing Project to those who have a basic background in behavioural economics/decision analysis and want to learn more about the people behind its creation. It added such depth to my understanding by making me visualise them as actual people with flaws, families, and their own personal histories, not just names and dates in essay references! I would also recommend this to people who love biographical and anecdotal non-fiction.
I didn't know what to expect when I started this book. It is an easy to read, not too technical account of the coming together of two completely different minds. The meeting of economics and psychology and two Israeli men who become close friends despite their differences. An interesting read.
I don't actually recall wishing for this book so not sure if I did it in error but I don't generally enjoy none fiction I did give it a try but I'm a fiction reader at heart so didn't feel I could give it a fair review. Thank you for considering me
Totally fascinating!! Not the type of book I would usually read, combining mathematical statistics with psychology and economics. This book follows the lives and thoughts of various experts who want to make sense of decision making. Maybe not for everyone, but if you want to know why statisticians make better team decisions than expert talent spotters, then this is for you.
Michael Lewis is one of the most interesting, original and thought provoking authors around and his latest magnificent effort sees him proving two young psychologists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky and analysing their work and partnership.
They had produced a body of work and original thought that that examined how people make decisions "under uncertainty" and how apparently rational decisions are totally influenced by the situation in which people find themselves at that time.
Lewis forensically dissects the friendship and working partnership between these two fascinating and brilliant individuals and makes difficult concepts easy to assimilate and understand and it is packed full of interesting anecdotes that helps make this book a pleasure and delight to read.
Highly recommended.
Utterly readable with attention to the human element of two characters who probably influenced the way many economists, politicians and, as Lewis pointed out in a previous book with less reductive criteria, in sports. He starts thinking decision making in sports nad how data-focused models started not to be satisfactory - the unknown elements of a person's personality and background effected the choices - so outcomes were based on previous predilections. He soon moves tot he main protagonists - Kahnmeannd and AMos two psychologists (basically) who tried to find solutions to the way people made choices. Boy do we need them now. In completely readable and person-oriented style, he takes us through their lives and their ideas and how they are correlated, right up until the Nobl prxe is awarded to Kahnmann. Compelling reading - entertaining and smart.
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