Idea Transcript
My Account
My eBookshelf
Track Order
FAQ
Buy Books
Download eBooks
Show me › Teacher's Resources
Craft Books
Mathematics Algebra Applied Mathematics
New Releases
Stickers
Popular
Self-Help & Inspiration
On Sale
Coloring
Checkout
Cart 0 Item(s) $0.00 About Us
Contact Us
search store... Stay Connected:
Gift Ideas
Home / Dover Books | Dover Categories / Mathematics Books | Math Books / Probability and Statistics Books / Fifty Challenging Problems in Probability with Solutions
Fifty Challenging Problems in Probability with Solutions
Aurora
Fifty Challenging Problems in Probability with Solutions
Calculus
By: Frederick Mosteller
Combinatorial Optimization
Differential and Integral Equations
Read 2 Reviews
5.0
Fourier Analysis
Write a Review
Buy Book
Book
Reg. Price › $7.95
Buy eBook
eBook
Sale Price › $6.36
Book + eBook
Reg. Price › $8.75
General Geometry History of Mathematics
Bundle + Save
Logic
Share this book:
Numerical Analysis
Operations Research Probability and Statistics Real and Complex Analysis
Add to Wishlist
Reference Theory
Product Description
Bonus Editorial
Product Details
Topology Variational Methods Vectors, Tensors, Spinors
Can you solve the problem of "The Unfair Subway"? Marvin gets off work at random times between 3 and 5 p.m. His mother lives uptown, his girlfriend downtown. He takes the first subway that comes in either direction and eats dinner with the one he is delivered to. His mother complains that he never comes to see her, but he says she has a 50-50 chance. He has had dinner with her twice in the last 20 working days. Explain. Marvin's adventures in probability are one of the fifty intriguing puzzles that illustrate both elementary ad advanced aspects of probability, each problem designed to challenge the mathematically inclined. From "The Flippant Juror" and "The Prisoner's Dilemma" to "The Cliffhanger" and "The Clumsy Chemist," they provide an ideal supplement for all who enjoy the stimulating fun of mathematics. Professor Frederick Mosteller, who teaches statistics at Harvard University, has chosen the problems for originality, general interest, or because they demonstrate valuable techniques. In addition, the problems are graded as to difficulty and many have considerable stature. Indeed, one has "enlivened the research lives of many excellent mathematicians." Detailed solutions are included. There is every probability you'll need at least a few of them. Reprint of the Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts, 1965.
You might also Like...
Two-Person...
Applied...
Introduction to...
The Green Book...
The Stanford...
Probability Theory
Product Review
5.0
(based on 2 reviews)
Write a Review Reviewed by 2 customers
Sort by Newest
Displaying reviews 1-2 Back to top
( 0 of 1 customers found this review helpful)
5.0
8/23/2014
Challenging indeed!
By Shaheen from San Francisco Bay Area
I took this with me on a flight to India frm the US and did the problems on the plane. Got about 2/3 of them. Great fun, and re-ignited my interest in probability, as well as making me so much more familiar with using the techniques of probability that I find myself thinking along probabilistic lines with much more ease than I did before getting the book. You know what they say: Nothing makes you better at a subject than doing the problems. (Although I suppose having to teach a course on a subject also makes you really understand it too!) About eight dollars, worth every penny! WAS THIS A GIFT?:
No
Was this review helpful? Yes / No - You may also flag this review
( 9 of 9 customers found this review helpful)
5.0
1/24/2012
Essence of probability, through problems
By Mary Pat Campbell from North Salem, NY
If Mosteller hadn't included the solutions, this would have been a short book indeed -- 56 problems simply stated in 14 pages. You'll soon find, however, that some problems, which are the shortest to set up, take a great deal of brainpower. It starts innocently enough some simple-sounding problems on socks in drawers, flipping coins, and rolling dice. Soon enough, you end up with paper black with numbers and pictures of a flipping coin (how thick does a coin need to be so that it lands on its =side= with probability 1/3?) If you get drawn in deep (as I did), you may even wonder what probability really means. Some of the problems are classic, such as the problem of how many people would it take for the probability that at least two of them have the same birthday is greater than a half (I'll give this answer away: 23. But do you know why?) One of the dice problems actually recalls the history of the development of probability as a separate mathematical field -- problem #19, involving dice bets that Samuel Pepys asked Isaac Newton to figure out. Some of the problems are simply openers for entire vistas in probability - avoid problems #51 and #52 if you wish to not become enmeshed in concerns of random walks (remember that one of Einstein's earliest papers was on Brownian motion - a molecular random walk.) I used problem #25, which deal with "random chords on a circle", to explore this classic probability paradox - I've ended up with three different figures, all of which seem plausible! It gets deep to what one means by "random chord". This book, though so thin, is inexhaustible in spawning disturbing questions about probability; even more useful is that there are questions for people at =any= level of knowledge of probability. Those who wish to think about "counting" problems (like those involving rolling dice, or pulling balls out of urns) will find those here. Those who have an interest in continuous probability will find problems which will interest them. And those old probability pros who ponder the essence of chance will find meat for some productive chewing. Was this review helpful? Yes / No - You may also flag this review
Displaying reviews 1-2 Back to top
Privacy & Cookie Policy
CUSTOMERS
HELP
COMPANY
STAY CONNECTED
My Account
Store Locator
About Dover
Facebook
Track Order
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Us
Google+
Returns
Free Shipping
Jobs
youTube
Shipping Rates & Policies
100% Safe Shopping Guarantee
Privacy Notice
Pinterest Twitter Subscribe to Newsletter Instagram Blog
© 2013 Dover Publications. All Rights Reserved. | Terms of Use