A Second Course in Stochastic Processes [Hardcover]

Samuel Karlin (Author), Howard M. Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 1981 | ISBN-10: 0123986508 | ISBN-13: 978-0123986504 | Edition: 1

This Second Course continues the development of the theory and applications of stochastic processes as promised in the preface of
A First Course. We emphasize a careful treatment of basic structures in stochastic processes in symbiosis with the analysis of natural classes of stochastic processes arising from the biological, physical, and social sciences.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Howard E. Taylor is a research chemist with the National Research Program, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey located in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Taylor has played a major role over the past 25 years in the development of plasma spectrometric techniques in analytical chemistry, as reflected in his more than 150 technical publications and the presentation of numerous papers at national and international technical meetings. He has served as faculty affiliate at Colorado State University and has taught American Chemical Society Short Courses for more than 15 years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 542 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (May 12, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0123986508
• ISBN-13: 978-0123986504
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #979,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sequel to the very commonly used first course, January 24, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Second Course in Stochastic Processes (Hardcover)

Karlin and Taylor wrote a classic text on stochastic processes in their "A First Course in Stochastic Processes". The second edition of that text was published in 1975.

This sequel came out in 1981. It is not only a second course but it is also intended as a second volume on a larger course in stochastic processes. The authors show that they are continuing from the first course by picking up with Chapter 10 after the first book ended with Chapter 9. Many of the topics in the first book are continued in this text including Markov chains and Diffusions. Heavy emphasis is placed on point processes and their applications including Poisson and compound Poisson processes, population growth models and queueing processes.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST-HAVE IF YOU WANNA GO TO WALLSTREET!, April 21, 2000

By 

Yan Zhang - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Second Course in Stochastic Processes (Hardcover)

In financial derivatives, people are generally dealing with all kinds of stochastic processes. This second course focuses on diffusion processes and prepares one with adequate knowledge to go ahead and understand how options are priced. This book itself does not touch any financial theory and will be of great use to people in genetics, mathematics and physics alike (finance also, of course). The authors give a chart of logical dependence of all the chaptors so you do not need to read every single corner if you are only interested in a specific topic. Readers are assumed to know Calculus and some basic probability theory. Knowledge of Brownian motion is not required and the authors succeded in keeping the math accessible. Although a mature senior might undertake this book, math in this book is not sloppy at all. Another thing I liked this book very much is there are so many excersices at the end of each chapter and one can check if he understands the materials or not. It's quite fair to give this book five stars.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book., December 16, 2006

By 

Desperate Scholar (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Second Course in Stochastic Processes (Hardcover)

You know who your real friends are when they recommend you this book. This gem gives you a real appreciation for what is, unfortunately, the "old" - style of mathematics. Unlike the disasterous expositions in certain modern texts that will remain namesless - this text motivates all its topics with ample examples and doesn't beat you over the head with notation, jargon and arrogance. The topics are appropriate for a first course and for people that want to apply the material to their work or research right away.