From the ancients' first readings of the innards of birds to your neighbor's last bout with the state lottery, humankind has put itself into the hands of chance. Today life itself may be at stake when probability comes into play-in the chance of a false negative in a medical test, in the reliability of DNA findings as legal evidence, or in the likelihood of passing on a deadly congenital disease-yet as few people as ever understand the odds. This book is aimed at the trouble with trying to learn about probability. A story ...
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From the ancients' first readings of the innards of birds to your neighbor's last bout with the state lottery, humankind has put itself into the hands of chance. Today life itself may be at stake when probability comes into play-in the chance of a false negative in a medical test, in the reliability of DNA findings as legal evidence, or in the likelihood of passing on a deadly congenital disease-yet as few people as ever understand the odds. This book is aimed at the trouble with trying to learn about probability. A story of the misconceptions and difficulties civilization overcame in progressing toward probabilistic thinking, Randomness is also a skillful account of what makes the science of probability so daunting in our own day. To acquire a (correct) intuition of chance is not easy to begin with, and moving from an intuitive sense to a formal notion of probability presents further problems. Author Deborah Bennett traces the path this process takes in an individual trying to come to grips with concepts of uncertainty and fairness, and also charts the parallel path by which societies have developed ideas about chance. Why, from ancient to modern times, have people resorted to chance in making decisions? Is a decision made by random choice "fair"? What role has gambling played in our understanding of chance? Why do some individuals and societies refuse to accept randomness at all? If understanding randomness is so important to probabilistic thinking, why do the experts disagree about what it really is? And why are our intuitions about chance almost always dead wrong? Anyone who has puzzled over a probability conundrum is struck by the paradoxes and counterintuitive results that occur at a relatively simple level. Why this should be, and how it has been the case through the ages, for bumblers and brilliant mathematicians alike, is the entertaining and enlightening lesson of Randomness.
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Add this copy of Randomness to cart. $0.99, good condition, Sold by Zoom Books East rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Glendale Heights, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Harvard University Press.
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Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include From the library of labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys dvds etc. We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service.
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Fast Shipping-Good and clean conditions used book. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks.
Add this copy of Randomness to cart. $4.02, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Harvard University Press.
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Add this copy of Randomness to cart. $10.00, good condition, Sold by The Book House - Saint Louis rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from St. Louis, MO, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Harvard University Press.
Add this copy of Randomness to cart. $13.46, fair condition, Sold by TextbookRush rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Grandview Hts, OH, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Harvard University Press.
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Fair. Obviously well-worn, but no text pages missing. May have highlighting and marginalia, but markings do not interfere with readability. Textbooks do not have accompanying CDs or access codes. Ships from an indie bookstore in NYC. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 256 p.
Add this copy of Randomness to cart. $14.49, very good condition, Sold by Alien Bindings rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from BALTIMORE, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Harvard University Press.
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Very Good+ or Near Fine condition. First Harvard Univ. Pr. paperback edition (1999). The covers are in great shape with only light shelf wear. The binding is square and tight. The interior pages are clean and unmarked. The book will be carefully packaged for shipment for protection from the elements. USPS electronic tracking number issued free of charge. From the ancients' first readings of the innards of birds to your neighbor's last bout with the state lottery, humankind has put itself into the hands of chance. Today life itself may be at stake when probability comes into play--in the chance of a false negative in a medical test, in the reliability of DNA findings as legal evidence, or in the likelihood of passing on a deadly congenital disease--yet as few people as ever understand the odds. This book is aimed at the trouble with trying to learn about probability. A story of the misconceptions and difficulties civilization overcame in progressing toward probabilistic thinking, Randomness is also a skillful account of what makes the science of probability so daunting in our own day. 238 pages.
Add this copy of Randomness to cart. $28.33, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Harvard University Press.
