- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press; Reprint edition (Oct 1 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0674107462
- ISBN-13: 978-0674107465
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 14 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 23 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#345,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #79 in Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Free Will & Determinism
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
"Chance governs all," said Milton, but he was writing about hell, not statistical probability. In the modern world, we assume that Milton's hell is everywhere--that is, that fate is best described in terms of statistics, odds, risks, and randomness. But most people, even many scientists, find probability difficult to understand and often counter to common sense. Mathematician Deborah Bennett looks at the history of statistics, games of chance and the casting of lots, the "Monty Hall" problem, and sources of random numbers. "Every day we can see evidence that the human species does not yet have a very highly developed probabilistic sense." With more books like Bennett's, we may in time become better at it--chances are. --Mary Ellen Curtin
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
The big philosophical questions are, "Do unpredictable events really occur by chance or is chance a measure of our ignorance?" and, "Does it matter which it is?" The practical question is, "How do you use a computer to systematically produce `random' numbers, for use in certain applications?" In this easy-to-read exposition, Bennett (mathematics, Jersey City State Coll.) touches on these questions as well as some history of society's interpretation of chance and its relationship to religious beliefs. The descriptions of the methodology of certain statisticians near the turn of the century is particularly noteworthy. Unfortunately, in making the material accessible to the lay reader, many of the interesting arguments and examples are either omitted or touched on too lightly. In particular, some of the mathematics might have been discussed in greater depth. This very short book would have been better had it been longer.?Harold D. Shane, Baruch College, CUNY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ever heard of Godel?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Randomness (Paperback)
You can ignore the stars. This is written in response to "mrbigbeast": His statement that Zeno's Paradox and other paradoxes like it have been "debunked" are totally ludicrous. Hasn't he ever heard of Kurt Godel or Alan Turing? It has been mathematically proven that real logical paradoxes without any resolution exist. There are several accessible books on this subject like *Godel, Escher, Bach.* It's a disgrace that such stupid reviews have weight in the rating process.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sad ending,
By MrBigBeast "mrbigbeast" (Killingworth, CT, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Randomness (Paperback)
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.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good intuitions,
By "ramig18" (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Randomness (Paperback)
I liked this book. It is simple, clear, easy to read and teaches you a great deal.
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