Ten Great Ideas about Chance
By Persi Diaconis and Brian Skyrms
5/5
()
About this ebook
A fascinating account of the breakthrough ideas that transformed probability and statistics
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, gamblers and mathematicians transformed the idea of chance from a mystery into the discipline of probability, setting the stage for a series of breakthroughs that enabled or transformed innumerable fields, from gambling, mathematics, statistics, economics, and finance to physics and computer science. This book tells the story of ten great ideas about chance and the thinkers who developed them, tracing the philosophical implications of these ideas as well as their mathematical impact.
Persi Diaconis and Brian Skyrms begin with Gerolamo Cardano, a sixteenth-century physician, mathematician, and professional gambler who helped develop the idea that chance actually can be measured. They describe how later thinkers showed how the judgment of chance also can be measured, how frequency is related to chance, and how chance, judgment, and frequency could be unified. Diaconis and Skyrms explain how Thomas Bayes laid the foundation of modern statistics, and they explore David Hume’s problem of induction, Andrey Kolmogorov’s general mathematical framework for probability, the application of computability to chance, and why chance is essential to modern physics. A final idea—that we are psychologically predisposed to error when judging chance—is taken up through the work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.
Complete with a brief probability refresher, Ten Great Ideas about Chance is certain to be a hit with anyone who wants to understand the secrets of probability and how they were discovered.
Read more from Persi Diaconis
Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Ten Great Ideas about Chance
Related ebooks
Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Impossible?: Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Mathematicians Think: Using Ambiguity, Contradiction, and Paradox to Create Mathematics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Joy Of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Pi Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Gamble If You Must: Inequalities for Stochastic Processes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDuelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chancing It: The Laws of Chance and How They Can Work for You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Logician and the Engineer: How George Boole and Claude Shannon Created the Information Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nonplussed!: Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fascinating World of Graph Theory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Probability Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Understand Chance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What's Luck Got to Do with It?: The History, Mathematics, and Psychology of the Gambler's Illusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula: Cures Many Mathematical Ills Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Calculus of Friendship: What a Teacher and a Student Learned about Life while Corresponding about Math Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman: Mathematics at the Limits of Computation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5e: The Story of a Number Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Writing on Mathematics 2017 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects: Research in Recreational Math Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flaws and Fallacies in Statistical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell Me The Odds: A 15 Page Introduction To Bayes Theorem Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Theory of Games and Economic Behavior: 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Writing on Mathematics 2019 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Pursuit of Zeta-3: The World's Most Mysterious Unsolved Math Problem Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Reverse Mathematics: Proofs from the Inside Out Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mathematics For You
Algebra - The Very Basics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quantum Physics for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Book of Mathematical Principles, Theories & Things Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Standard Deviations: Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways to Lie with Statistics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Basic Math & Pre-Algebra For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Everyday Math Book: From Tipping to Taxes, All the Real-World, Everyday Math Skills You Need Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Thirteen Books of the Elements, Vol. 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCalculus Made Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Real Estate by the Numbers: A Complete Reference Guide to Deal Analysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Algebra I Workbook For Dummies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Relativity: The special and the general theory Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Game Theory: A Simple Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flatland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ACT Math & Science Prep: Includes 500+ Practice Questions Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Is God a Mathematician? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 Milestones in the History of Mathematics Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Precalculus: A Self-Teaching Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game - Updated Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Guide to Algebra: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Basics of Algebra - in Plain English! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mental Math Secrets - How To Be a Human Calculator Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golden Ratio: The Divine Beauty of Mathematics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Algebra I For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5See Ya Later Calculator: Simple Math Tricks You Can Do in Your Head Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Logicomix: An epic search for truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Ten Great Ideas about Chance
3 ratings0 reviews