Stalled Project: Homo Wagerus --- a Study of Bet-making Man.

This brief (260 page) ethnobiological treatise deals with gambling as a natural successor to tool making. It will be finished when I get good and ready. Nevertheless, publisher inquiries are still welcome, especially if they come with the traditional free lunch.

The narrative begins before Romans were rolling bones at Gethsemone then it skips and bounces through space and time until it completes the required lip service to Bugsy Siegel and the founding fathers of Las Vegas. Once all of the obvious obligations are paid, the book comes to life with a hilarious (but economically shrewd) description of the Disney-era casinos. The last two chapters focus on internet innovations, such as the landmark peer-to-peer TradeSports.com.

To call this treatment Whig history would almost be an accolade. Still, once you see the argument, I am sure you will agree that the arrow of time really does point up.

The style might remind you of Tom Wolfe's Right Stuff , but I am not offering odds.

The question that any publisher must ask: "How does this differ from other recent popular books on probability and statistics, such as the delightful pair Randomness by Deborah Bennet and Dicing with Death by Sean Senns.

I'll save the answer for my (free) lunch.

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