William Poundstone

John von Neumann invented the digital computer, played a key role in the development of the atom bomb, constructed a branch of mathematics known as game theory, and became a defender of a movement to bomb the Russians before they could bomb us. Now comes a biography of this controversial genius and an exploration of his greatest idea--one that nearly triggered a nuclear war in 1950.

Microsoft's interview process is a grueling sequence of brain-busting questions that separate the most creative thinkers from the merely brilliant. So effective is their technique that other leading corporations--from the high-tech industry to consulting and financial services--are modeling their own hiring practices on Bill Gates' unique approach. How would you move Mount Fuji? reveals for the first time more than 35 of Microsoft's puzzles and riddles....

At least five U.S. presidential elections have been won by the second most popular candidate, because of "spoilers"--minor candidates who take enough votes away from the most popular candidate to tip the election. The spoiler effect is a consequence of the "impossibility theorem," discovered by Nobel laureate economist Kenneth Arrow, which asserts that voting is fundamentally unfair--and political strategists are exploiting the mathematical faults...

The Book That Gives the Inside Story on Hundreds of Secrets of American Life --Big Secrets. Are there really secret backward messages in rock music, or is somebody nuts? We tested suspect tunes at a recording studio to find out. What goes on at Freemason initiations? Here's the whole story, including -- yes! -- the electric carpet. Colonel Sanders boasted that Kentucky Fried Chicken's eleven secret herbs and spices "stand on everybody's shelf."...

"Each year about 28 million Americans begin a search for a new job. Many more live in the age of the permanent job search, their online profiles eternally awaiting a better offer. Job seekers are more mobile and better informed than ever, aspiring to work for employers offering an appealing culture, a robust menu of perks, and opportunities for personal fulfillment and advancement. The result is that millions of applications stream to the handful...

Every year, millions of applications stream to a handful of companies that regularly top the listings of best employers: Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Alphabet, Disney, SpaceX, Oracle, PricewaterhouseCoopers and others. In 2017, Tesla received as many as 200 applications for each vacancy, making it ten times more selective than Harvard. The only way to choose who to hire is with uniquely demanding questions that test imagination, persistence and creativity....

Should you watch public television without pledging? Exceed the posted speed limit? Hop a subway turnstile without paying? These questions illustrate the "prisoner's dilemma", a social puzzle that we all face every day. Though the answers may seem simple, their profound implications make the prisoner's dilemma one of the great unifying concepts of science. Watching poker players bluff inspired John von Neumann to construct game theory, a mathematical...

"Rock breaks scissors is based on a simple principle: people are unable to act randomly. Instead they display unconscious patterns that the savvy person can outguess. The principle applies to friends playing rock, paper, scissors for a bar tab as well as to the crowds that create markets for homes and stocks. With a gift for distilling psychology and behavioral economics into accessible advice, Poundstone proves that outguessing is easy, fun, and...