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Probability: For the Enthusiastic Beginner
This book is written for high school and college students learning about probability for the first time. It will appeal to the reader who has a healthy level of enthusiasm for understanding how and why the various results of probability come about. All of the standard introductory topics in probability are combinatorics, the rules of probability, Bayes’ theorem, expectation value, variance, probability density, common distributions, the law of large numbers, the central limit theorem, correlation, and regression. Calculus is not a prerequisite, although a few of the problems do involve calculus. These are marked clearly. The book features 150 worked-out problems in the form of examples in the text and solved problems at the end of each chapter. These problems, along with the discussions in the text, will be a valuable resource in any introductory probability course, either as the main text or as a helpful supplement.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 2, 2020
A great intro to probability.
It builds on a strong high school math foundation with clear explanations and an excellent set of worked problems. The book usually shows more than one way to derive or arrive at the results. This is very helpful if one explanation is not making sense, the second one clicks and make the first one evident.
The worked examples are excellent. Not only does he provide complete solutions, he gives a step by step explanation, not just the math symbols. Many times he show different approaches to solving the problems.
Each chapter ends with a clear short summary, and throughout the chapter the author places ‘remark’ sections that answer what are likely the biggest sources of confusion.
Covers counting, which is the basis of probability, probability, probability distributions and regressions.
Very well organized. The author obviously has years of experience teaching the material so he knows how to teach it well. Writing is exceptional for a math textbook.
If you want to learn the math of probability, I don’t know of a better source. If your taking a class in probability, this book is a great add on, almost certainly better than the text assigned.
It builds on a strong high school math foundation with clear explanations and an excellent set of worked problems. The book usually shows more than one way to derive or arrive at the results. This is very helpful if one explanation is not making sense, the second one clicks and make the first one evident.
The worked examples are excellent. Not only does he provide complete solutions, he gives a step by step explanation, not just the math symbols. Many times he show different approaches to solving the problems.
Each chapter ends with a clear short summary, and throughout the chapter the author places ‘remark’ sections that answer what are likely the biggest sources of confusion.
Covers counting, which is the basis of probability, probability, probability distributions and regressions.
Very well organized. The author obviously has years of experience teaching the material so he knows how to teach it well. Writing is exceptional for a math textbook.
If you want to learn the math of probability, I don’t know of a better source. If your taking a class in probability, this book is a great add on, almost certainly better than the text assigned.
February 15, 2020
Good basic summary
A mixed reaction to this book. The early chapters were near perfect. Well explained with excellent examples. Then it started going a bit off the deep end. Very complicated results with long tangled explanations and tediously lengthy examples, not at all basic or beginners level. After eschewing calculus throughout the author then feels compelled to add a final irrelevant appendix on how to do a couple of ‘first principal’ derivatives.
So a good introductory book for students but not as simple as it could have been as the pace picks up.
A mixed reaction to this book. The early chapters were near perfect. Well explained with excellent examples. Then it started going a bit off the deep end. Very complicated results with long tangled explanations and tediously lengthy examples, not at all basic or beginners level. After eschewing calculus throughout the author then feels compelled to add a final irrelevant appendix on how to do a couple of ‘first principal’ derivatives.
So a good introductory book for students but not as simple as it could have been as the pace picks up.
August 23, 2021
Absolutely amazing and a gem of an introductory probability textbook! It is lucid - explaining everything so well - yet does not sacrifice (for an introductory textbook) any rigour required for a university course in probability (which I am currently taking). I initially had trouble penetrating the concepts and applications of probability distributions as well as combinatorics (which my course did not cover but this book did). I highly recommend. Thank you Morin!
June 29, 2023
A superb book if you are a what the book says - an enthusiastic beginner in probability. This book contains thorough explanations of the most fundamental elements of probability, with both theoretical and graphical demonstrations. It also contains challenging exercises with good explanation so it is possible to completely understand the reasoning for the answer, as well as use the guide if one is completely stuck on a problem. Recommended.
May 14, 2020
concise yet full of good insights. a real crash course of probability. specially liked the box methods on the linear regression
August 22, 2021
I liked the connection with ellipses and least squares. A very broad overview of probability.
April 18, 2024
Sort of good for a first read on probability, but is often very verbose.
I would skip it and start from Dimitri Bertsekas.
I would skip it and start from Dimitri Bertsekas.
August 19, 2024
The best introduction to probability of all...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews