Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability (Science Study Series.)

Rating:
Summary: Lady Luck is a charm
Review: I could not put this book down. The author, Warren Weaver, writes in a very unpretentious, personal voice. He unravels the complex subject of probability in a manner that is both encouraging and challenging. The reader develops a personal intuition for applying basic probability formulae (with careful consideration of relevant factors and an increased sense of self-confidence). I believe this book could be understood by any person familiar with basic algebra. On the other hand, the average physics PhD would likely find it equally interesting, because its intuitive approach is so refreshing.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, flowing, and surprisingly rigorous introduction
Review: The main strength of Mr. Weaver's "Lady Luck" lies in its sheer readability. Mr. Weaver is very careful about presenting his arguments so that they may have maximum intuitive appeal, while at the same time refusing to compromise the mathematical rigor that is necessary to construct any serious theory of rudimentary probability. What is most important about the work is that it provides the reader an extremely entertaining and well written framework for thinking about questions of probability. A concept such as "independent random variable" which a mediocre statistics textbook may quickly skip is a surprisingly philosophically complicated idea, and has troubled academicians, let alone lay people. Mr. Weaver's work, far from being in any sense "slow," deals with how we are to take into account this very basic ideas that form the starting point to this particular area of the mathematical sciences. Finally, Mr. Weaver's references to distinctively late 50s early 60s phenomenon provide an entertaining look at the thoughts of the time.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, flowing, and surprisingly rigorous introduction
Review: The main strength of Mr. Weaver's "Lady Luck" lies in its sheer readability. Mr. Weaver is very careful about presenting his arguments so that they may have maximum intuitive appeal, while at the same time refusing to compromise the mathematical rigor that is necessary to construct any serious theory of rudimentary probability. What is most important about the work is that it provides the reader an extremely entertaining and well written framework for thinking about questions of probability. A concept such as "independent random variable" which a mediocre statistics textbook may quickly skip is a surprisingly philosophically complicated idea, and has troubled academicians, let alone lay people. Mr. Weaver's work, far from being in any sense "slow," deals with how we are to take into account this very basic ideas that form the starting point to this particular area of the mathematical sciences. Finally, Mr. Weaver's references to distinctively late 50s early 60s phenomenon provide an entertaining look at the thoughts of the time.

Rating:
Summary: Lady Luck- A little unlucky this time
Review: Weaver's book (actually written in the early 1960's) is becoming somewhat dated. Since this was before calculators were readily available, the book's examples don't take advantage of the readers access to powerful number crunching such as factorials and exponentials. Having taken over 4 years of calculus in college, I don't consider myself mathematically challenged, but I often had a hard time following the author's reasoning and his sample problems. Those without a good mathematical background could easily get lost and discouraged in this book unless they just skimmed over the rough areas and picked up those subjects and anecdotes of possible interest to them. For a quick read of probability theory at a low price, this isn't too bad; but more modern books are available.

Rating:
Summary: Lady Luck- A little unlucky this time
Review: Weaver's book (actually written in the early 1960's) is becoming somewhat dated. Since this was before calculators were readily available, the book's examples don't take advantage of the readers access to powerful number crunching such as factorials and exponentials. Having taken over 4 years of calculus in college, I don't consider myself mathematically challenged, but I often had a hard time following the author's reasoning and his sample problems. Those without a good mathematical background could easily get lost and discouraged in this book unless they just skimmed over the rough areas and picked up those subjects and anecdotes of possible interest to them. For a quick read of probability theory at a low price, this isn't too bad; but more modern books are available.