Probability rocks

This morning, over breakfast, Isabel and I engaged in a philosophical discussion about the nature of probability. As you do. OK, that's not exactly true, we played heads and tails with a 2p coin, and between the two of us we managed to get five out of six wrong. What's the likelihood of that?

Anyway, I then told her a story, which may have gone slightly over her head, about an incident which happened to me at university. I was at a lecture, about probability, and the lecturer tried to demonstrate what he was saying by flipping a 50p coin, and claiming that the probability of it landing on one side or the other was one in two. Which sounds right. But he hadn't figured with the law of Sod, which intervened to ensure that the coin landed on its side. Even though, according to the lecturer, there was no probability of that!

Thus inspired, we created the following piece of art. I have no idea how Isabel managed to balance the 2p though, that was nothing to do with me.


This was all before school, no wonder we're both knackered before the end of the day! After that of course, we relaxed with a little light reading....