Stochastic Processes [Hardcover]

Sheldon M. Ross (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471120626 | ISBN-13: 978-0471120629 | Publication Date: January 1995 | Edition: 2

A nonmeasure theoretic introduction to stochastic processes. Considers its diverse range of applications and provides readers with probabilistic intuition and insight in thinking about problems. This revised edition contains additional material on compound Poisson random variables including an identity which can be used to efficiently compute moments; a new chapter on Poisson approximations; and coverage of the mean time spent in transient states as well as examples relating to the Gibb's sampler, the Metropolis algorithm and mean cover time in star graphs. Numerous exercises and problems have been added throughout the text.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A nonmeasure theoretic introduction to stochastic processes. Considers its diverse range of applications and provides readers with probabilistic intuition and insight in thinking about problems. This revised edition contains additional material on compound Poisson random variables including an identity which can be used to efficiently compute moments; a new chapter on Poisson approximations; and coverage of the mean time spent in transient states as well as examples relating to the Gibb's sampler, the Metropolis algorithm and mean cover time in star graphs. Numerous exercises and problems have been added throughout the text.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 510 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471120626
• ISBN-13: 978-0471120629
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid explanations, treasure-trove of results, September 17, 2003

By 

Louis A. Cox Jr. (Denver, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stochastic Processes (Hardcover)

I have found this book to be a fantastic resource for practitioners (including myself and colleagues) who need to find known results and/or develop new ones by applying clear probabilistic (especially, sample-path) thinking to new problems. To learn the material and frameworks for the first time, it is perhaps still impossible to beat Feller. (Grimmett and Stirzaker is a great introduction in the same tradition and friendlier than Ross.) But once one has been out in the real world doing applied stochastic modeling fro a while, this book of Ross's becomes extremely valuable! It has many results in it that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere and that are pretty easy to locate here. Moreover, the proofs are explained very clearly, though briefly, so that if it has been a while since you have had to do problems sets, the style of thinking will come back in a hurry on reading Ross's exposition. Finally, in contrast to some other good books (like Hoel et al.), Ross's notation tends to be very clear and intuitive -- very close to what many authors choose in their journal articles -- so that one can immediately follow a particular result and exposition without having to read through a lot of the rest of the book to understand the notation. This is a real benefit for folks who just want to find and use what is known to help solve some new problems.

In summary, I agree with others that this may not be the right book to learn stochastic processes from for the first time, but it is well worth the (huge) price when you need an up-to-date, clearly explained source to help you solve real-world problems.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A concise and intuitive introduction to stochastic modeling, February 9, 2006

By 

C. Kaufman (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stochastic Processes (Hardcover)

I was surprised to see this book getting negative reviews, as it's one of my very favorite textbooks in this area, and I found it an absolute joy to study from when I took probability my first year of grad school. The writing and notational style are indeed concise. However, I appreciated that there wasn't a lot of "filler" text. Instead, the intuition comes by working through the proofs and examples yourself, and Ross has a knack for giving the intuitive rather than the clever or short proof. In that sense this book is quite pedagogical, though not wordy. I didn't have a very strong math background when I first read this book, and in fact I think I learned a lot about how to DO proofs by reading it carefully. I have not read "Probability Models" by the same author, but I know it has been used as the text for advanced undergraduate courses in my department. I certainly didn't feel the need to refer to it as I read this book. If you are in doubt, try using the "Search Inside the Book" option to get a feel for the level of mathematical detail. I've recommended this book to several friends taking masters level probability, and I think it's well worth the price for the right audience.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book but problems too difficult, March 18, 2000

By 

"patilo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stochastic Processes (Hardcover)

If you want to enjoy learning renewal and markov processes and other stochastic processes, this book will help you to do just that. To use this book, you need the book called Introduction to probability models by Ross also. Without it, you will never solve even a single problem from this book.

The material is well organised but quite often you have to study several times to understand some concepts. Use it at advanced undergraduate or graduate level. As a beginner, forget it!. You may need a professor in applied probability to assist you in solving some problems.