The Pleasures of Probability (Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics / Readings in Mathematics) [Hardcover]

Richard Isaac (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 038794415X | ISBN-13: 978-0387944159 | Publication Date: February 24, 1995

The purpose of "The Pleasures of Probability" is to introduce some of the most fundamental ideas in classical probability to a fairly general audience - reaching from mathematical amateurs to scientists, from students to professional mathematicians. The only prerequisites required are a decent background in elementary algebra and an interest in discussions of a variety of problems and applications in probability. The style is informal, and the chapters are more like essays on a particular topic than textbook treatments. Even well-known problems are often covered in more depth than usual in order to illustrate underlying ideas. The book can be used as a text for a first course in probability or as a companion to a text. Each chapter ends with a few problems, the answers to which are given at the end of the book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: Springer (February 24, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038794415X
• ISBN-13: 978-0387944159
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Biostatistics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars nice intro to probability, February 9, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pleasures of Probability (Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics / Readings in Mathematics) (Hardcover)

Professor Isaac has written a book for those interested in learning about probability. It is at a high school algebra level although knowledge of calculus could be helpful at times. He starts with the now famous Monte Hall problem and provides the most lucid explanation I have seen to date. This is a great way to introduce important probability notions such as sample space and probability models for the sample outcomes. Deals mainly with discrete probability which is easiest to understand and yet rich with applications in gambling and other areas.
Important theory is presented but without the detailed mathematical proofs. Covers the gambler's ruin, geometric probability, Monte Carlo methods and some statistical decision theory. He also presents both the frequentist (throughout the text)and the Bayesian paradigms (Chapter 4) for statistical inference. Examples of the application of probability to statistical inference is nicely treated in Chapter 15. The deeper material on Markov chains and Brownian motion are relegated to the last two chapters (16 and 17). The exposition is excellent throughout and many good references are provided for readers who want to learn more or delve deeper into the theory.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction, August 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pleasures of Probability (Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics / Readings in Mathematics) (Hardcover)

This introduction to probability and statistics teaches you about important concepts, theorems and applications without going into proving most of them. It's easily accessible to amateur mathematicians with a bit of persistance, and it illuminates many of its concepts using famous problems. I'm going to take a statistics course next year, and I found this to be a delightful introduction to the topic.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good book - fun for amateurs, November 3, 2006

By 

Julian Wan "wanchob" (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pleasures of Probability (Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics / Readings in Mathematics) (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book for both the serious and amateur mathematician. For the serious student and practitioner it will provide an excellent background. For the amateur who enjoy dabbling and reading about math, this is a wonderful book - just read the opening section which explains clearly and an illustrated fashion the Monty Hall problem.