"How can you be a hundred percent sure you will win a bet? Why did so many Pompeiians stay put while Mount Vesuvius was erupting? Are you more likely to work in a kitchen if your last name is Baker? Ever since the dawn of human civilization, we have been trying to make predictions about what the world has in store for us. For just as long, we have been getting it wrong. In How to Expect the Unexpected, statistician Kit Yates uncovers the surprising...

"Apes can do a lot of things that we can, too: they can use tools, tell bigger from smaller, and even say hello. But one thing they can't do is say "see you tomorrow." That's not just because they don't speak English, but because they are unable to imagine reencountering another ape in the future. Humans, of course, can. As Thomas Suddendorf, Jon Redshaw, and Adam Bulley reveal, that represents a truly earth-shattering capacity. In The Invention of...