The Eudaemonic Pie by Thomas A. Bass (PDF)

Description

Recounts the true story of a group of young computer wizards who set out to beat the system at Las Vegas by means of mathematical theory and computers, small enough to be hidden in shoes, that communicate with each other by radio and body sensors

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I first heard about this book during fall semester 1991 from a fellow math grad student at the University of Texas at Austin who had just moved into our way-too-cozy little RL Moore Hall (RLM) office of three. It was my sixth and last semester there. I was on my way out of the Ph.D. program without any new titles attached to my name, or special paper to flash at prospective employers. With money short, that last semester I slept nights in the office on a surprisingly comfortable bench intended solely for day visits from students and colleagues.*It was with this backdrop of living in Hotel RLM and experiencing a renewed kinship with the Beatles lyric “Oh, that magic feeling, nowhere to go, nowhere to go,” that I checked the book out of the university library and spent the next few gorgeous November afternoons lost in its pages on the South Mall, with a view of the Texas State Capitol building a mile to the south. Aged 32, I had still never been to a casino in my life (on a solo cross-country motorcycle trip six years earlier I’d stopped for gas, and gas only, on my way through Las Vegas).This 1991 read still ranks among my most enjoyable of all time. I disagree with the author-ragging that’s gone on in many of the comments here. Bass clearly put a lot of care and effort into the presentation. Upon reread, I still find it to be an inspired work of art and very well-written book.The only minor thing I’ve noticed (in the paperback version, anyway) to really complain about are a few typos here and there that jump right out (e.g., “perennnially”). It seems a bit ironic given the subject material, that digital spell checkers evidently weren’t used to copyedit the author’s work.A friend of mine has a son who is currently a high school senior with stellar grades at one of the best-ranked schools in California. He has his sights set on a career in engineering. With his top choice being Stanford, I believe the paperback (despite its typos) will make the perfect graduation gift.*As of 1991 anyway, the beauty of RLM lay not in its physical appearance (this enormous building is actually quite ugly), but in the fact that it housed not one, but at least two separate shower stalls hidden away in restrooms in remote areas where few would ever discover them. I still owe my colleague Fred a debt of gratitude for revealing their existence to me upon hearing where I was sleeping that semester.

⭐The criticisms of other reviewers notwithstanding, I liked the book. I read it when originally published and was more irritated by the minor factual errors (for example, in one place the author refers to the “Intel 6502” as the microprocessor powering the KIM-1 — any self-respecting computer geek will know MOS, not Intel, made the original 65XX line of microprocessors) than by the style. On a recent re-reading I found those errors less annoying and enjoyed the story of a not atypical bunch of nerds from that time period who got more intrigued by the technology and science than ultimately achieving their business goal. But they had a fun trip — that’s what makes this a great read for fans of computing history. Particularly if you were one of those science/computing nerds of the 60s, 70s, or 80s you’ll likely enjoy this book — for those people at least this book is worth a quick read.

⭐This book is not a technical manual. It does not provide the differential equations which govern roulette, much less provide the algorithms for computer code to solve these simultaneous equations and predict the outcome of a roulette game. Does the author know these things? Maybe, but that would make a much less interesting story.This is the story of a group of brilliant and odd characters who discover the limitations chaos imposes on logic, reason, and community. Their goal was to create a utopian society funded by profits from gambling. Well, that’s life.

⭐There are some good stories, but no schematic for the machine or code for the software. Don’t trust the guys selling roulette computers on the internet, would you sell it for $500 if you could make millions? These guys knew Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, but didn’t bother to invest in their friends fledgling start up (now worth close to half a trillion dollars), I think they might have made a couple million on this, but every one of them would be billionaires from Apple if they invested their winnings. It’s an entertaining read, but I wanted to glean the formula for prediction (or a schematic, or software code); and I did not get it.

⭐Great story with some history of microprocessors included.

⭐One of the best cyber stories ever. It reads with the gravity of good fiction, but is al the more satisfying for being true.

⭐Less surfing and partying by the “Projectors” at 707 Riverside could have lead to better results against the casinos.

⭐Wrong book in the wrong cover. Opened it to find the book inside was “Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia” by Sabrina Strings.

⭐Ebook version of Newtonian casino

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