Probability Models for Computer Science

Rating:
Summary: Lots of theory; no applications
Review: I was very disappointed by this book. While it does an excellent job of presenting and analyzing the THEORY of various kinds of probability models, it says almost nothing about how to apply these models to the problems of computer science. For example queueing theory is incredibly useful in many areas of performance modeling, but Ross doesn't mention any of them. Instead, he presents queueing theory as if it fell from the sky one day -- pristine and beautiful, not to be tarnished by having any actual purpose. The presentation reminds me of the way some "pure" mathematicians take offense when a physicist even hints that their beautiful equations might be used to solve an actual problem. If you're interested in applying this stuff, take a look instead at Trivedi's "Probability and Statistics with Reliability, Queueing, and Computer Science Applications, 2nd Edition." It's a much better book.