Understanding Probability: Chance Rules in Everyday Life

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Cambridge University Press, Jul 26, 2007 - Mathematics - 442 pages
In this fully revised second edition of Understanding Probability, the reader can learn about the world of probability in an informal way. The author demystifies the law of large numbers, betting systems, random walks, the bootstrap, rare events, the central limit theorem, the Bayesian approach and more. This second edition has wider coverage, more explanations and examples and exercises, and a new chapter introducing Markov chains, making it a great choice for a first probability course. But its easy-going style makes it just as valuable if you want to learn about the subject on your own, and high school algebra is really all the mathematical background you need.
 

Selected pages

Contents

Section 1
11
Section 2
12
Section 3
14
Section 4
17
Section 5
18
Section 6
24
Section 7
49
Section 8
73
Section 14
146
Section 15
174
Section 16
206
Section 17
223
Section 18
243
Section 19
263
Section 20
284
Section 21
304

Section 9
103
Section 10
104
Section 11
141
Section 12
143
Section 13
144
Section 22
313
Section 23
331
Section 24
352
Section 25
367
Section 26
385

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About the author (2007)

Henk Tijms is Professor of Operations Research at the Vrije University in Amsterdam. The author of several textbooks, including A First Course in Stochastic Models, he is intensively active in the popularization of applied mathematics and probability in Dutch high schools. He has also written numerous papers on applied probability and stochastic optimization for international journals, including Applied Probability and Probability in the Engineering and International Sciences.

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