About the Book

"Luck, chance, and randomness are topics that virtually everyone can relate to and that each of us have been affected by. The Random Factor explores these subjects using a vast array of evidence, fresh insights, and compelling stories based upon the author's long standing research. The range of subjects and scholarship is far reaching and compelling. From history, to the natural world, to our everyday lives, chance is shown to play an important role in shaping various outcomes. Just as important, The Random Factor details the dynamics that determine the ways that luck and chance play themselves out, and it reveals the lessons to be learned in terms of guiding our personal lives and social policies. Mark Robert Rank leads his readers on a fascinating journey across the shifting sands of chance and luck. It is a journey that will change the way we fundamentally understand the world we live in and the manner in which our lives unfold"--

Book Synopsis

A poverty expert reveals how truly random the world is--including how economic inequality is experienced--and how we can learn to acknowledge chance and appreciate it.

It's comforting to think that we can be successful because we work hard, climb ladders, and get what we deserve, but each of us has been profoundly touched by randomness. Chance is shown to play a crucial role in shaping outcomes across history, throughout the natural world, and in our everyday lives. In The Random Factor, Mark Robert Rank draws from a wealth of evidence, including interviews and research, to explain how luck and chance play out and reveals how we can use these lessons to guide our personal lives and public policies.

The Random Factor traverses luck from macro to micro, from events like the Cuban Missile Crisis to our personal encounters and relationships. From his perspective as a scholar of poverty, Rank also delves into the class and race dynamics of chance, emphasizing the stark disparities it brings to light. This transformative book prompts a new understanding of the twists and turns in our daily lives and encourages readers to fully appreciate the surprising world of randomness in which we live.

From the Back Cover

"The Random Factor is a fantastic read for anyone interested in how luck, chance, and serendipity shape our daily lives and unequal outcomes. With compelling examples always at hand, Mark Robert Rank deftly brings together insights from a wide range of studies and everyday experiences to show the underappreciated role that randomness plays in all aspects of social life. Accessible and entertaining, the book provides a valuable new perspective on contemporary inequality."--Michael Sauder, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Iowa

"Is it better to be lucky than to be good? Sociologist Mark Robert Rank's engaging and highly readable The Random Factor considers the importance of luck and chance in grand human affairs and individual life outcomes. From the accident of birth to why some musicians are highly successful while others, equally talented, languish in obscurity; from the choices of natural selection to the margin between winning and losing in sports, Rank takes the reader on a lively, entertaining, and informative tour of how randomness affects our lives for good and ill. . . . Both entertaining and informative."--Gerald Early, Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, Washington University in St. Louis

"As social scientists, we focus on finding out what predicts what. Most of the time, we can model twenty or thirty percent of how variable A is related to variable B. But what of the remainder, the seventy or eighty percent that we can't predict? That's the magic spot The Random Factor targets, the parts of life's realm that we cannot predict but that make all the difference."--Mimi Chapman, Frank A. Daniels Distinguished Professor for Human Service Policy Information, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Review Quotes

"Rank's focus on the interplay between social structure, individual agency, and randomness adds an important dimension to discussions of social mobility and outcomes. The book encourages sociologists to incorporate randomness into their research framework, which could yield deeper insights into the ways that seemingly arbitrary events influence larger societal trends."-- "Social Forces"

"Much of the power of the book comes from Rank's discussion of 'chance and luck' operating at a far more mundane level in the lives of ordinary people. Rank makes a strong case, in particular, that whether a person winds up in poverty is largely the result of factors outside their control."-- "Jacobin"

About the Author

Mark Robert Rank is Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis. He has received numerous awards for his scholarship and books, and his research has been reported in a wide range of national and international media.