One of the hardest questions that mathematics teachers have to answer is "Why?" Schoolroom sums are crucial in learning the awesome power of mathematics, but they are often a world away from how the knowledge is applied and where it came from. is there to fill that gap. What are the chances of that? Mathematics can solve that mystery for you using a set of ideas that grew out of an aristocratic gambler’s bafflement at betting on complex dice games. In stepped the mathematical giants of Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal, who worked together to create what is now called probability theory. Gamblers need not rejoice in this powerful theory; it shows that the casino always wins in the end. The ideas of probability have since found many better uses elsewhere. For example, they are at work in the mathematics that describes the quantum world and drives the push for artificial intelligence. The mathematics of chance is involved in understanding systems where myriad data points combine. Statistics is the branch of mathematics that wrangles that data and tames it into meaningful knowledge. It then allows us to get ever better at modeling complex phenomena, from the formation of stars and the path of a hurricane to the rise and fall of the markets.