In The Taming of Chance, renowned philosopher and historian Ian Hacking explores one of the most profound intellectual transformations of the modern era: the rise of probability as a way of understanding the world. Building on themes from his celebrated work The Emergence of Probability, Hacking traces how, by the late nineteenth century, statistical thinking evolved from a mere mathematical curiosity into a powerful explanatory framework that reshaped science, philosophy, and society.

This groundbreaking study reveals how concepts of chance moved from the margins of thought to the center of modern reasoning. Hacking shows how new statistical tools, social institutions, and scientific methods fostered a worldview in which patterns, averages, and probabilistic laws became essential to explaining everything from human behavior to physical phenomena.

Through rich historical research and insightful philosophical analysis, The Taming of Chance demonstrates:

• How probability challenged centuries of deterministic thinking

Explore how shifting intellectual currents made it possible to see randomness not as disorder but as a source of understanding.

• The emergence of statistical reasoning in science and society

Learn how governments, scientists, and institutions used statistical methods to classify populations, predict outcomes, and manage uncertainty.

• The deep connections among mathematics, philosophy, and the social sciences

Discover how probability became a unifying force across disciplines, shaping everything from physics to sociology.

• The “probabilization” of the Western worldview

Understand how statistical patterns came to be viewed as explanations in themselves—fundamentally altering how we interpret the world.

A landmark contribution to the history of ideas, The Taming of Chance offers a clear and authoritative account of how chance, risk, and probability became central to modern life. Essential reading for historians, philosophers, social scientists, and anyone interested in how we came to think the way we do today.