Chance and the Eighteenth-Century Novel: Realism, Probability, Magic - Paperbackby Jesse Molesworth (Author) The rise and popular awareness of the science of probability in the eighteenth century was accompanied by an equally great interest in the anti probable: lotteries, tarot readings, and gambling. In this original study, Jesse Molesworth analyses the relationship between realism, probability and chance in eighteenth century fiction. In a variety of readings, both literary and cultural, he investigates works by Daniel Defoe,