Probabilities: The Little Numbers That Rule Our Lives
Probabilities: The Little Numbers That Rule Our Lives
What are the chances?
Find out in this entertaining exploration of probabilities in our everyday lives
“If there is anything you want to know, or remind yourself, about probabilities, then look no further than this comprehensive, yet wittily written and enjoyable, compendium of how to apply probability calculations in real-world situations.”
–Keith Devlin, Stanford University, National Public Radio’s “Math Guy” and author of The Math Gene and The Math Instinct
“A delightful guide to the sometimes counterintuitive discipline of probability. Olofsson points out major ideas here, explains classic puzzles there, and everywhere makes free use of witty vignettes to instruct and amuse.”
–John Allen Paulos, Temple University, author of Innumeracy and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper
“Beautifully written, with fascinating examples and tidbits of information. Olofsson gently and persuasively shows us how to th
List Price: $ 72.00
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Well written account of the basic math of probability,
The style is halfway between a popular science book without equations, and a college textbook focussing mostly on equations. Within this style, it is very clearly written. It combinines neat explanations of basic mathematical probability facts beyond the most elementary “combinations and permutations” facts: law of averages, central limit theorem, opinion polls etc. It also has an unusually complete collection of the classic gems of elementary probability calculations (birthday paradox, coupon collector’s problem, secretary problem, etc) and a few recent real-world instances (Sally Clark [2 SIDS children]; Berkeley admissions). So for these purposes, or to complement a dull introductory course, I can highly recommend this book. There are other good books with slightly different focus (and whose paperback versions are much cheaper than this hardback version): Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities is a somewhat less mathematical overview of the interesting bits of a college course in probability and statistics; and Taking Chances: Winning with Probability explains basic probability using real-world examples such as lotteries, dice and card games, casino games, TV show games, and racetrack betting.
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