Customer Reviews

Introduction to Probability Theory

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the book used in the standard upper-division probability course at UC Berkeley when I took it 18 years ago. In my opinion it is still the best. I have since taught the subject myself and was forced to use other books, with many more pages and fancy pictures than Hoel's book. Yet those books do not do anywhere near as good a job of teaching probabilistic *thinking* as well as Hoel. This is what causes the most problems for students of probability, and Hoel does it the right way in Chapters 1 and 2, which are key. The basic explanations are clear and concise, with many instructive examples.

My professor back then told us that if we want to learn probability, then do every exercise in this book. She was absolutely right. The exercises are excellent. Do them, and you will learn a lot.

This used to be *the* book on elementary calculus-based probability theory at most universities. I don't understand why it seems to have fallen out of favor. Perhaps because of its size (it is fairly compact, as it should be) and age, though I fear that it may be because it is a bit more demanding (but worth it) than many of the newer books.

I first noticed this book during the time that I spent at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate applied mathematics major. It was being used for Stat 101, and though I was not taking that course, I bought it because it looked even from casual inspection to be very well laid out, covering important and interesting issues in basic probability.

The strongest feature of this book from my point of view is its conciseness. Much is presented in as short a time as possible, and because of that the book is much more readable than many others of its level. In addition to conciseness, the authors (in my edition Hoel, Port, and Stone) have made a commendable effort to present the reader with clear and concrete definitions, compact theorems (many proven), and abundant useful examples. In the back of the book nearly all of the solutions of the chapter exercises are given, unlike many books where answers to only the odd problems are given. I believe that this book is ideal for self-study, and that much use of it could also be made as a textbook for an undergraduate course in probability. The exercises are not very difficult, but they are by no means trivial, and much can be learned from them. At the end of a close study of this book the reader would be ready to enter into a program of undergraduate level mathematical statistics, or into a further study of probability with the confidence inspired by a firm understanding of the most fundamental and key concepts in probability theory.

This classical text is complete and detailed. I'm an undergraduate and used the book after acquiring the basics of multiple integration as an introduction to the calculus of probability. Plenty of exercises (answers provided) which not only help you understanding the theory but are also complementary to the text. (This is a "non-measure" text on probability theory.) Well written!!!! (see also Hoel at al., 'Int. to Stochastic Processes', and Taylor, 'An Int. to Measure and Probability',(Springer-Verlag)).

This is a fantastic book. It is a pleasure to read and learn from. I know is an expensive text but it is worth its weight in gold, even if used. I have quite a few books on probability and, had I known about this one before, I would have never bothered looking at the others. This is the type of text to bring along if you were to be dropped onto an island in the middle of the Pacific.

This book is an excellent choice for anyone who is interested in learning the elementary probability theory(i.e. calculus-based probability rather than measure theoretic probability). The book assumes the readers have no prior exposure to this subject. However, the readers are expected to have a working knowledge of calculus. While there are many textbooks of the same nature, this book stands out by its clarity, completeness and elegance. The authors present the material in an extremely clear way that any serious reader is able to follow from the beginning to the end. It is absolutely a first-class textbook! A must for anyone interested in elementary probability. The only part I don't like is that the authors use "density function" instead of "probability mass function" for discrete random variable.

I picked up this book for free in a library give away and didn't realize my good fortune until I read the first chapter. My undergrad probability class used Sheldon Ross's Intro To Probability Models book, which certainly contains interesting examples but lacks the intuitive explanation and rigorous (enough for an undergraduate at least) derivations of this book. Chapter 2 alone provided a better treatment of counting and combinatorics than any book I've seen. Most of the exercises have solutions in the back, which are very convenient for self-study, and the exercises themselves range from straightforward to slightly tricky, although all are very manageable. I am looking forward to tackling HPS's Stochastic Processes book next.

The authors introduce the most elementary ideas of probability theory in quite a few pages. They include the right amount of examples to clarify the concepts without making the exposition too tedious. In addition, the text has plenty of problems with their respective solutions. To make the story short: if you want to learn elementary probability as fast as possible without loosing the essentials, get this book.

I agree with everything other reviewers have said about this book and more.

This was the book I used in my undergrad studies in probability & statistics. By truly studying every page of this easy to follow & concise book I was able to become something of an expert in probability & statistics -- at least that is what I am known as in my engineering profession.

I can truly attest to the fact that this book almost single handily provided me with this expertise. I was truly able to learn about probability & statistics because of this book.

I very highly recommend this book to anyone who truly wants to learn and UNDERSTAND probability & statistics.

I give this book the highest star ratings times three. To me it's by far the gold medal of probability & statistics books. Do whatever you can to buy a copy -- and study it thoroughly. By the end of the book you will truly be another expert and truly understand probability & statistics.

- Mike Peralta

Feel free to contact me if you wish at: peralta_mike@hotmail.com

This is a good book. Better than its follow up statistics book in accomplishing its goal imo. However recent price hiking on the new text by the publisher ruins its value. If you are getting a 12 dollar used copy you are getting a good value. If you are getting a 135 dollar new copy you are getting fleeced or forced into a horrible purchase by an instructor.