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What Are the Chances?: Voodoo Deaths, Office Gossip, and Other Adventures in Probability
Bart K. Holland
€ 39.74
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Description for What Are the Chances?: Voodoo Deaths, Office Gossip, and Other Adventures in Probability
Hardback. Whether you have only a distant recollection of high school algebra or use differential equations every day, this book offers examples of the impact of chance that will amuse and astonish. Num Pages: 160 pages, 7, 7 black & white line drawings. BIC Classification: PBT; PDZM. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 217 x 147 x 19. Weight in Grams: 364.
Our lives are governed by chance. But what, exactly, is chance? In this book, accomplished statistician and storyteller Bart K. Holland takes us on a tour of the world of probability. Weaving together tales from real life-from the spread of the bubonic plague in medieval Europe or the number of Prussian cavalrymen kicked to death by their horses, through IQ test results and deaths by voodoo curse, to why you have to wait in line for rides at Disneyworld-Holland captures the reader's imagination with surprising examples of probability in action, everyday events that can profoundly affect our lives but are controlled by just one number. As Holland explains, even chance events are governed by the laws of probability and follow regular patterns called statistical laws. He shows how such laws are successfully applied, with great benefit, in fields as diverse as the insurance industry, the legal system, medical research, aerospace engineering, and climatology. Whether you have only a distant recollection of high school algebra or use differential equations every day, this book offers examples of the impact of chance that will amuse and astonish.
Product Details
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press United States
Number of pages
160
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2002
Condition
New
Number of Pages
160
Place of Publication
Baltimore, MD, United States
ISBN
9780801869419
SKU
V9780801869419
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-24
About Bart K. Holland
Bart K. Holland is an associate professor of biostatistics and epidemiology in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at New Jersey Medical School.
Reviews for What Are the Chances?: Voodoo Deaths, Office Gossip, and Other Adventures in Probability
All 140 pages of What Are the Chances? are enjoyable and convey much wisdom in an area where gut feelings and rash actions frequently prevail.
Colin Keay
The Physicist
An extremely fun read... Insightful and full of interesting applications.
Chance
Holland captures the reader's imagination with surprising examples of probability in action, everyday events that can profoundly affect our lives. It will amuse and astonish the reader.
Journal of Irreproducible Results
Holland Captures the reader's imagination with surprising examples of probability in action, everyday events that can profoundly affect our lives but are controlled by just one number.
Mathematical Reviews
What Are the Chances? is an enjoyable read. And painlessly instructive as well... [a] charming book.
James Gerrand
The Skeptic
What Are the Chances? will give you a whole new outlook... readable, comprehendable, and often funny.
Marilis Hornidge
The Courier-Gazette
If you have ever wondered about the chances of a Prussian cavalryman being kicked to death by his horse or if you prefer to work out your own life expectancy by staring at life tables, then Bart Holland's excellent primer on probability is a great place to start. In a time when anecdote and panic seem to influence public policy more than objective analysis, Holland has provided a welcome reminder of the power of the analytical approach.
Simon Singh
New Scientist
Will entertain and inform people who like statistical puzzles and may nudge those who don't toward statistical literacy... Offers explanations of such probability-based phenomena as why buses come in clumps, how life insurance table work, and how diseases spread. While maintaining a sense of fun, Holland still manages to work in some equations and a little of the history behind different kinds of statistical reasoning.
Library Journal
Written to make minimal (almost zero) use of formulas or algebraic skills. Covers a remarkable number of topics [which are] introduced to stimulate the interest of the average reader.
American Mathematical Monthly
This is a book I can happily recommend... I learnt something from every chapter.
Quentin L. Burrell
Significance
The author writes fluently and with authority and he covers a host of different situations... The strength of this book is the wealth of examples of applied probability theory which will provide useful support for any statistics course in the classroom.
Gerry Leversha
Mathematical Gazette
An excellent source of interesting examples of probability and statistics in action.
James V. Rauff
Mathematics and Computer Education
Colin Keay
The Physicist
An extremely fun read... Insightful and full of interesting applications.
Chance
Holland captures the reader's imagination with surprising examples of probability in action, everyday events that can profoundly affect our lives. It will amuse and astonish the reader.
Journal of Irreproducible Results
Holland Captures the reader's imagination with surprising examples of probability in action, everyday events that can profoundly affect our lives but are controlled by just one number.
Mathematical Reviews
What Are the Chances? is an enjoyable read. And painlessly instructive as well... [a] charming book.
James Gerrand
The Skeptic
What Are the Chances? will give you a whole new outlook... readable, comprehendable, and often funny.
Marilis Hornidge
The Courier-Gazette
If you have ever wondered about the chances of a Prussian cavalryman being kicked to death by his horse or if you prefer to work out your own life expectancy by staring at life tables, then Bart Holland's excellent primer on probability is a great place to start. In a time when anecdote and panic seem to influence public policy more than objective analysis, Holland has provided a welcome reminder of the power of the analytical approach.
Simon Singh
New Scientist
Will entertain and inform people who like statistical puzzles and may nudge those who don't toward statistical literacy... Offers explanations of such probability-based phenomena as why buses come in clumps, how life insurance table work, and how diseases spread. While maintaining a sense of fun, Holland still manages to work in some equations and a little of the history behind different kinds of statistical reasoning.
Library Journal
Written to make minimal (almost zero) use of formulas or algebraic skills. Covers a remarkable number of topics [which are] introduced to stimulate the interest of the average reader.
American Mathematical Monthly
This is a book I can happily recommend... I learnt something from every chapter.
Quentin L. Burrell
Significance
The author writes fluently and with authority and he covers a host of different situations... The strength of this book is the wealth of examples of applied probability theory which will provide useful support for any statistics course in the classroom.
Gerry Leversha
Mathematical Gazette
An excellent source of interesting examples of probability and statistics in action.
James V. Rauff
Mathematics and Computer Education