Fundamentals of Probability, with Stochastic Processes (3rd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: VERY POOR QUALITY
Review: This is a pathetic book. You can study as hard as you like, but you will not be able to solve the problems at the end of each section. Why? Because those problems are totally unrelated to what's explained in the chapter. I know most people say this book is good -- its because they're either paid by the publisher to praise this book or they're phd or graduate students. And please don't think I'm making a bad review because I'm a weak student. I have an excellent background in calculus and other pre-requisits for this course. I have aced most of my math courses at my university, and never have I gotten anything less than B in any math course I took. I have done over 26 credits in math for my BS in EE -- calculus, linear algebra, Differential Equations, etc and I got A in 16 and B in 10 of those credits. However when I took this course, the book is so extremely poor that I got 60 in the first test. And thereafter the professor said exams will be open book and open notes because the material is simply too poor. Only students having a very strong background in probability would understand this. For a beginner in probability, this book sucks big time.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy another!
Review: This is an excellent reference book for anyone taking a graduate level Math Stat class. I have read Hoag & Craig, Cassella, Mood Graybill & Boes, and Mukhopadhyay, and this book is clearly the easiest to read from simple distributions to moment generating functions, to transformations, etc.

After you read this, you are going to wish the author had part II covering inferential methods.

Rating:
Summary: Ghahramani has manged to find the *perfect* balance!!
Review: You won't believe what Ghahramani has accomplished until you BUY THIS BOOK (2nd Edition)!!

Instead of trying to intimidate the student with formulas from the abyss and his superior intellect, Ghahramani matter-of-factly shows you what needs to be seen, backs it up with *excellent* examples and side remarks, provides the opportunity to complete a problem set, and moves on quickly to the next section.

What we have here is the model of efficiency: Enough substance to retain clarity without being prolix.

The axiomatic presentation of probability allows the reader to develop the mental framework needed to have a *deep* and *comprehensive* grasp of probability that can truly be called understanding...

One of the reviewers here makes some pretty bizarre claims; So for the record: I am not a Graduate Student.. actually, I am an undergraduate Aerospace Engineering Major.

Ghahramani's English is Superior -- His sentences flow easily and makes for a quick read. If you cannot learn from this book, it is because you are either Illiterate, Lazy, or Inept at BASIC math.

There is *NO* Calculus until Chapter 6! Furthermore, nearly all the symbols used in the book are actually defined and illustrated in the beginning sections of the book.

This Book is Clear, Concise, and Well-Balanced. It is not filled to the brim with overly descriptive paragraphs that emphasize all the wrong things. Gharamani knows exactly where to place the emphasis so that you dont have to spend hours trying to figure out what is important and what is not. This is THE book to have for "Mathematical Statistics 1" or "Intro to Probability".