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As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

I am a concert pianist and use my maiden name professionally. One day after I'd played a concert a lady approached me and said she had the same maiden name and wondered if we could be related. We talked and she told me her gg-grandfather was a gamekeeper on an estate about 150 miles away. My gg-grandfather was also a gamekeeper, but the first name was different and I didn't know the location. Some additional research revealed we shared a ggg-grandfather, but her line wasn't shown on the ancestry information I'd been given. Our relationship is described as "distant" and we keep in touch - she lives about 3 miles from me.
Total votes: 237
Date submitted:Sun, 01 Aug 2021 14:30:06 +0000Coincidence ID:11484