Chance: The Life of Games & the Game of Life

ISBN-13: 9783540744160 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 240 str.

Joaquim P. Marques de Sa

Opis

This is a unique book on how probability affects our everyday lives. It guides the reader in an almost chronological trip through the fascinating and amazing laws of chance, omnipresent in the natural world and in our daily lives. Along the way many fascinating topics are discussed. These include challenging probability paradoxes, "paranormal" coincidences, game odds, and causes and effects. Finally the author discusses possibilities and limitations of learning the laws of a Universe immersed in chance events. This charming book, with its many easy-to-follow mathematical examples, will inform and entertain the scientist and non-scientist alike.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"This book gives a delightful overview of Probability, that is Chance, as a phenomenon in both games and life. ... I found this book to be filled with example that I will use in class the next time I teach Probability. ... The author keeps the mathematical prerequisites to a minimum, so that this book would be accessible to an undergraduate ... . I would consider using it as a text for a student who wanted to do an independent study of probability theory." (Barbara E. Reynolds, MathDL, July, 2008)

"This book on chance is a translation of the 2006 Portuguese original. ... it may be read by almost anybody who is interested in the subject of chance." (A. N. Philippou, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2009 a)

Spis treści

Probabilities and Games of Chance.- Amazing Conditions.- Expecting to Win.- The Wonderful Curve.- Probable Inferences.- Fortune and Ruin.- The Nature of Chance.- Noisy Irregularities.- Chance and Order.- Living with Chance.

O autorze

J.P. Marques de Sá is Full Professor at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Porto. He is chairman of the Signal Processing Group of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Porto. His research interests are in the areas of Physiological Signal Analysis, Pattern Recognition and Neural Networks. He is a reviewer for several scientific journals and chairman of the "Summer School on Neural Networks" annually held at Porto. He is author of six books, four in Portuguese and two in English.

Blurb

With its many easy-to-follow mathematical examples, this book takes the reader on an almost chronological trip through the fascinating and amazing laws of chance, omnipresent in the natural world and in our daily lives. Along the route many fascinating topics are discussed, such as: challenging probability paradoxes; "paranormal" coincidences; game odds; causes and effects; interpretation of opinion polls; winning chances as a game proceeds; the nature of randomness; entropy and randomness; randomness in life; algorithmic complexity and the undecidability of randomness; possibilities and limitations of learning the laws of a Universe immersed in chance events. This charming book will inform and entertain the scientist and non-scientist alike.