Will You Be Alive 10 Years from Now?: And Numerous Other Curious Questions in Probability by Paul J. Nahin (PDF)

Description

A collection of stimulating probability puzzles from bestselling math writer Paul NahinWhat are the chances of a game-show contestant finding a chicken in a box? Is the Hanukkah dreidel a fair game? Will you be alive ten years from now? These are just some of the one-of-a-kind probability puzzles that acclaimed popular math writer Paul Nahin offers in this lively and informative book.Nahin brings probability to life with colorful and amusing historical anecdotes as well as an electrifying approach to solving puzzles that illustrates many of the techniques that mathematicians and scientists use to grapple with probability. He looks at classic puzzles from the past–from Galileo’s dice-tossing problem to a disarming dice puzzle that would have astonished even Newton—and also includes a dozen challenge problems for you to tackle yourself, with complete solutions provided in the back of the book.Nahin then presents twenty-five unusual probability puzzlers that you aren’t likely to find anywhere else, and which range in difficulty from ones that are easy but clever to others that are technically intricate. Each problem is accompanied by an entertaining discussion of its background and solution, and is backed up by theory and computer simulations whenever possible in order to show how theory and computer experimentation can often work together on probability questions. All the MATLAB® Monte Carlo simulation codes needed to solve the problems computationally are included in the book. With his characteristic wit, audacity, and insight, Nahin demonstrates why seemingly simple probability problems can stump even the experts.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The book arrived a couple of days ago and I’m intrigued and challenged by the problems and history. Already some of the historical context of famous problems presented here has helped me appreciate their origin and the solutions offered by some of history’s great thinkers. So, many thanks for this work! The book was accompanied by 2 other of Prof. Nahon’s books and I’m looking forward to jumping into those shortly as well.Is there an online source for the MATLAB code presented in the text?

⭐Recreational mathematical puzzles, usually involving made-up stories, often involve probability — this is a tradition dating back at least to Lewis Carroll’s Pillow Problems, in the 19th century. A typical first course in mathematical probability, at the college freshman or advanced high school level, teaches mathematical techniques via examples and exercises, many presented merely as mathematics but others drawing from this “made-up story” tradition. A less common style of mathematics teaching emphasizes problem-solving rather than textbook reading, and this works well for motivated students enthusiastic about mathematics (a small minority, alas). Mosteller’s 1965 book

⭐is the classic resource for this purpose. The present book continues in the same style, consisting mainly of 25 short (average 6 pages) chapters, each giving a “made-up story” problem and implicitly challenging the reader to find the solution before reading the author’s solution. So it’s a useful additional resource for problem-loving students or for an inexperienced instructor who is not acquainted with the extensive body of elementary problems from which these problems have been sampled. But it’s not particularly novel or inspiring.The title is rather misleading, referring to the only one of the 25 problems that uses real-world data (life tables). A reader wishing a gentle introduction to mathematical probability featuring real-world questions might prefer Haigh’s

⭐which emphasizes real sports and games.

⭐Excellent book! It’s full of very useful and practical information.

⭐Enjoyable read.

⭐If you enjoyed the author’s previous books on probability puzzles (Dueling Idiots and Digital Dice), then this one continues that theme with the same playfulness. Yes, Professor Nahin actually does calculate the probability of being alive 10 years from now.With a year of basic calculus under your belt, and the willingness to just have fun with math, this book will satisfy.And Prof. Nahin, if you’re reading this review, I just want to say a Thank You for all your books. From Oliver Heaviside to this one, they’ve given much pleasure. Many of your examples I’ve used in my mathematics classes. Now, please, get busy on that next one!

⭐I’ve found the work a very cute exposition of some interesting everyday type problems that have nice solutions by applying probabilistic methodology. The writing is excellent, and Nahin in not new to providing such as he has written more than ten bestselling books in the last 12 years. This particular one has the added advantage that simulation code is provided for most of the difficult problems, and while the code is in Mat lab, it can be easily seen to be modified for use in just about any language. Thus the book makes a good extra augmentation to a basic course in probability and simulations and can indeed be used in an academic setting for just that!All twenty five problems are presented in a clear, and many times strikingly cute manner, as are the solutions. This is an exemplary text for those wanting to write good quantitative texts.

⭐The title is a ploy to get you to think that this is a fun book. Most of the book, however, is only for mathematical experts.

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