This book provides an elementary introduction to probability theory and its applications. The emphasis is on essential probabilistic reasoning, amply motivated, explained and illustrated with a large number of carefully selected samples. The fourth edition adds material related to mathematical finance, as well as expansions on stable laws and martingales.
This book provides an introduction to probability theory and its applications. The emphasis is on essential probabilistic reasoning, which is illustrated with a large number of samples. The fourth edition adds material related to mathematical finance as well as expansions on stable laws and martingales. From the reviews: "Almost thirty years after its first edition, this charming book continues to be an excellent text for teaching and for self study." -- STATISTICAL PAPERS
This compact volume equips the reader with all the facts and principles essential to a fundamental understanding of the theory of probability. It is an introduction, no more: throughout the book the authors discuss the theory of probability for situations having only a finite number of possibilities, and the mathematics employed is held to the elementary level. But within its purposely restricted range it is extremely thorough, well organized, and absolutely authoritative. It is the only English translation of the latest revised Russian edition; and it is the only current translation on the market that has been checked and approved by Gnedenko himself. After explaining in simple terms the meaning of the concept of probability and the means by which an event is declared to be in practice, impossible, the authors take up the processes involved in the calculation of probabilities. They survey the rules for addition and multiplication of probabilities, the concept of conditional probability, the formula for total probability, Bayes's formula, Bernoulli's scheme and theorem, the concepts of random variables, insufficiency of the mean value for the characterization of a random variable, methods of measuring the variance of a random variable, theorems on the standard deviation, the Chebyshev inequality, normal laws of distribution, distribution curves, properties of normal distribution curves, and related topics. The book is unique in that, while there are several high school and college textbooks available on this subject, there is no other popular treatment for the layman that contains quite the same material presented with the same degree of clarity and authenticity. Anyone who desires a fundamental grasp of this increasingly important subject cannot do better than to start with this book. New preface for Dover edition by B. V. Gnedenko.
Now available in a fully revised and updated second edition, this well established textbook provides a straightforward introduction to the theory of probability. The presentation is entertaining without any sacrifice of rigour; important notions are covered with the clarity that the subject demands. Topics covered include conditional probability, independence, discrete and continuous random variables, basic combinatorics, generating functions and limit theorems, and an introduction to Markov chains. The text is accessible to undergraduate students and provides numerous worked examples and exercises to help build the important skills necessary for problem solving.
Using only the very elementary framework of finite probability spaces, this book treats a number of topics in the modern theory of stochastic processes. This is made possible by using a small amount of Abraham Robinson's nonstandard analysis and not attempting to convert the results into conventional form.
This book provides a clear and straightforward introduction to applications of probability theory with examples given in the biological sciences and engineering. The first chapter contains a summary of basic probability theory. Chapters two to five deal with random variables and their applications. Topics covered include geometric probability, estimation of animal and plant populations, reliability theory and computer simulation. Chapter six contains a lucid account of the convergence of sequences of random variables, with emphasis on the central limit theorem and the weak law of numbers. The next four chapters introduce random processes, including random walks and Markov chains illustrated by examples in population genetics and population growth. This edition also includes two chapters which introduce, in a manifestly readable fashion, the topic of stochastic differential equations and their applications.
This clear and lively introduction to probability theory concentrates on the results that are the most useful for applications, including combinatorial probability and Markov chains. Concise and focused, it is designed for a one-semester introductory course in probability for students who have some familiarity with basic calculus. Reflecting the author's philosophy that the best way to learn probability is to see it in action, there are more than 350 problems and 200 examples. The examples contain all the old standards such as the birthday problem and Monty Hall, but also include a number of applications not found in other books, from areas as broad ranging as genetics, sports, finance, and inventory management.
The main intended audience for this book is undergraduate students in pure and applied sciences, especially those in engineering. Chapters 2 to 4 cover the probability theory they generally need in their training. Although the treatment of the subject is surely su?cient for non-mathematicians, I intentionally avoided getting too much into detail. For instance, topics such as mixed type random variables and the Dirac delta function are only brie?y mentioned. Courses on probability theory are often considered di?cult. However, after having taught this subject for many years, I have come to the conclusion that one of the biggest problems that the students face when they try to learn probability theory, particularly nowadays, is their de?ciencies in basic di?erential and integral calculus. Integration by parts, for example, is often already forgotten by the students when they take a course on probability. For this reason, I have decided to write a chapter reviewing the basic elements of di?erential calculus. Even though this chapter might not be covered in class, the students can refer to it when needed. In this chapter, an e?ort was made to give the readers a good idea of the use in probability theory of the concepts they should already know. Chapter 2 presents the main results of what is known as elementary probability, including Bayes’ rule and elements of combinatorial analysis.
This fourth edition contains several additions. The main ones con cern three closely related topics: Brownian motion, functional limit distributions, and random walks. Besides the power and ingenuity of their methods and the depth and beauty of their results, their importance is fast growing in Analysis as well as in theoretical and applied Proba bility. These additions increased the book to an unwieldy size and it had to be split into two volumes. About half of the first volume is devoted to an elementary introduc tion, then to mathematical foundations and basic probability concepts and tools. The second half is devoted to a detailed study of Independ ence which played and continues to playa central role both by itself and as a catalyst. The main additions consist of a section on convergence of probabilities on metric spaces and a chapter whose first section on domains of attrac tion completes the study of the Central limit problem, while the second one is devoted to random walks. About a third of the second volume is devoted to conditioning and properties of sequences of various types of dependence. The other two thirds are devoted to random functions; the last Part on Elements of random analysis is more sophisticated. The main addition consists of a chapter on Brownian motion and limit distributions.
Designed for undergraduate mathematics students or graduate students in the sciences. This book can be used in a prerequisite course for Statistics (for math majors) or Mathematical Modeling. The first eighteen chapters could be used in a one-quarter course, and the entire text is suitable for a one-semester course.
