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Title: Randomness by Deborah J. Bennett ISBN: 0-674-10746-2 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.52 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.92 (13 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: good but frustrating
Comment: This is a great book for the short time that Bennett is talking about randomness. Unfortunately, that time is only about two chapters. Most of the book is dedicated to a history of how different cultures developed and applied randomizing techniques. The small bit of actual discussion of randomness was fascinating, and left me wondering why she decided to write a history book for the first 10 chapters.
Rating: 4
Summary: Beginner¿s guide to randomness, statistics and probability
Comment: In writing this beginner's guide to randomness, the author assumes that the reader's understanding of the concepts underlying statistics and probability is somewhat shaky as misconceptions abound, and certain concepts are particularly problematic. The author has, therefore, used lucid, expressive and entertaining language to clear up our misconceptions about this intrinsically fascinating branch of mathematics.
Used for seeking divine direction, decision-making and games, the practice of chance mechanisms have been discovered throughout Mesopotamia, the Indus valley, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire. Yet, probability was not seriously studied until the mid-17th century. Historians have long wondered why conceptual progress in this field was so slow, given that humans have encountered chance repeatedly from earliest times.
The answer lies in the difficulty of understanding randomness. Probability is based on the concept of a random event, and statistical inference is based on the distribution of random samples. Often, we assume that the concept of randomness is obvious. Yet, problems having to do with chance typically appear simple and amenable to solution with natural good sense, only to be proven otherwise. Over the course of 10 chapters, this book investigates a series of ideas central to the historical development of probabilistic thinking.
This book is highly recommended to anyone who is a total beginner when it comes to probability as it not only elucidates the reader on the subject, but also explains why probability is often counter-intuitive and hence desperately puzzling. Despite its abstruse nature, probability is a very useful tool and this book shows how it can be used to good effect. Filled with historical asides, this handy, pocket-sized book will clear up your misconceptions. Despite its easy-going conversational style, it is a thorough academic work with 50 pages of references, bibliography and the index.
Deborah J. Bennett (1950- ) is assistant professor of mathematics at Jersey City State College, New Jersey.
See also my review of: WHY FLIP A COIN? The Art and Science of Good Decisions H.W. Lewis John Wiley & Sons, Inc., August 1998 ISBN: 0-471-29645-7, Paperback, US$14.95, 206 pages
Rating: 1
Summary: Sad ending
Comment: The best I can say for this book is that the first nine chapters may provide some historical notes to inspire further research. But chapter 10, in which "paradoxes" of probability are discussed, proves the author is as clueless about the fundamentals of probability as she claims the average reader is. Apparently ignorant that the probability of an existing condition can only be 0% or 100%, the author introduces banal "paradoxes" in which more or less knowledge of circumstances supposedly changes the probability that an existing condition is true. Worse still, she describes one of these paradoxes poorly, appearing to change the status of conditions from pre-existing to future-unknown during the exposition of the problem (the three prisoners paradox). For anyone who cares to stop and think, these pseudo-paradoxes are no more difficult to debunk than Zeno's - you really don't need advanced math training to get it. But the author promotes, using logical fallacy, a string of wrong conclusions and answers. Considering the author's stated credits include Assistant Professor Of Mathematics, this is a truly sad ending. If chapter 10 is so massively wrong, can you believe anything in chapters 1 through 9? You tell me the odds.
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Title: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life, First Edition by Nassim Nicholas Taleb ISBN: 1587990717 Publisher: Thomson Texere Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Calculated Bets by Steven Skiena ISBN: 0521009626 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 06 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: The Mathematics of Games and Gambling by Edward Packel ISBN: 088385628X Publisher: The Mathematical Association of America Pub. Date: 05 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Games, Gods & Gambling : A History of Probability and Statistical Ideas by F. N. David ISBN: 0486400239 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 18 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: What Are The Odds? : Chance In Everyday Life by Mike Orkin ISBN: 0716735601 Publisher: W H Freeman & Co. Pub. Date: 10 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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