How Our Days Became Numbered
Risk and the Rise of the Statistical Individual

- Contents
- Review Quotes
- Awards

Chapter 1: Classing
Chapter 2: Fatalizing
Chapter 3: Writing
Chapter 4: Smoothing
Chapter 5: A Modern Conception of Death
Chapter 6: Valuing Lives, in Four Movements
Chapter 7: Failing the Future
Conclusion: Numbering in Layers
Epilogue: The Cards We Carry
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
aspirations of predicting fate to an early-twentieth century effort to master death. It is not only a
history of actuarial science, but also a cultural history of capitalism – and a surprisingly gripping
tale for an industry that many, preteens included, are liable to find dull. Bouk narrates the story
through a cast of characters who traipse through graveyards, assemble massive databases, and investigate corporate malfeasance. Statistics about life and death, he demonstrates, are anything but boring; rather, they are animated by and occasion moral debates about family, race, and the future of the nation."
Vivid, sometimes poetic prose, surprising examples, and memorable characters enliven the text. This is a very ambitious book."
Forum for the History of Science in America: Philip J. Pauly Book Prize
Won
The Society for U.S. Intellectual History: S-USIH Annual Book Award
Honorable Mention
Economics and Business: Economics--History
History: American History
Law and Legal Studies: Legal History
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