The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

In 100 Words or Less: For thousands of years, everyone knew that swans were white. This remained the case until European explorers "discovered" Australia in the late 18th century and encountered, for the first time, a black swan. Of course, a black bird is of little consequence, but the "black swan" as described by Nassim Nicholas Taleb illustrates a fundamental problem with the way we learn about the world, which is to say primarily by observation and experience. In other words, we don't know what we don't know. This is a book about not knowing and what happens when we think we do. Amongst other topics, the Black Swan offers a fascinating look at the role of randomness (or luck) and uncertainty in our daily lives.