Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of... (more)

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

“<Taleb is> Wall Street’s principal dissident. . . . <Fooled By Randomness> is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-nine theses were to the Catholic Church.” – Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker Finally in paperback, the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about the markets and the world.This book is about luck: more precisely how we... (more)

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

by Leonard Mlodinow

In this irreverent and illuminating book, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, change, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious cases, when in actuality... (more)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

by Judi Barrett

If food dropped like rain from the sky, wouldn't it be marvelous! Or would it? It could, after all, be messy. And you'd have no choice. What if you didn't like what fell? Or what if too much came? Have you ever thought of what it might be like to be squashed flat by a pancake?

Chances Are . . .: Adventures in Probability

Chances Are . . .: Adventures in Probability

by Michael Kaplan

A layman’s journey into the realm of probability—from poker to politics, weather to war, Monte Carlo to mortality We search for certainty, but find only likelihood. All things are possible, only one thing actually happens; everything else is in the realm of probability. The twin disciplines of probability and statistics underpin every modern science and sketch the shape of all purposeful group... (more)

Fooled by Randomness: the Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life

Fooled by Randomness: the Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

by Peter L. Bernstein

A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller "Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." —The New York Times "An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." —The Wall Street Journal "A lively panoramic book . . .... (more)

A Mathematician Plays The Stock Market

by John Allen Paulos

From America's liveliest writer on mathematics, a witty and insightful book on the stock market and the irrepressibility of our dreams of wealth. In A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market best-selling author John Allen Paulos demonstrates what the tools of mathematics can tell us about the vagaries of the stock market. Employing his trademark stories, vignettes, paradoxes, and puzzles (and even a film... (more)

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences

by John Allen Paulos

Why do even well-educated people understand so little about mathematics? And what are the costs of our innumeracy? John Allen Paulos, in his celebrated bestseller first published in 1988, argues that our inability to deal rationally with very large numbers and the probabilities associated with them results in misinformed governmental policies, confused personal decisions, and an increased susceptibility to... (more)

Probability and Measure, 3rd Edition

by Patrick Billingsley

PROBABILITY AND MEASURE Third Edition Now in its new third edition, Probability and Measure offers advanced students, scientists, and engineers an integrated introduction to measure theory and probability. Retaining the unique approach of the previous editions, this text interweaves material on probability and measure, so that probability problems generate an interest in measure theory and... (more)

I Think, Therefore I Laugh

by John Allen Paulos

-- Brian Butterworth, author of What Counts: How Every Brain is Hardwired for Math

Once Upon a Number : The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories

Once Upon a Number : The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories

by John Allen Paulos

Named one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 1998 by the Los Angeles Times, Once Upon a Number presents a surprising and humorous look at the similarities between narratives and numbers. "Both delightful and wise, this little book cries out to be kept close at hand, to be looked into from time to time, to be treasured as an old friend." -Los Angeles Times A "charming narrative.…Almost every piece is ... (more)

21: Bringing Down the House

The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

by Ben Mezrich

#1 National Bestseller! The amazing inside story about a gambling ring of M.I.T. students who beat the system in Vegas -- and lived to tell how. Robin Hood meets the Rat Pack when the best and the brightest of M.I.T.'s math students and engineers take up blackjack under the guidance of an eccentric mastermind. Their small blackjack club develops from an experiment in counting cards on M.I.T.'s campus into a... (more)

Diffusions, Markov Processes, and Martingales (Cambridge Mathematical Library)

Diffusions, Markov Processes, and Martingales (Cambridge Mathematical Library)

by L. C. G. Rogers, D. Williams

Now available in paperback, this celebrated book remains a key systematic guide to a large part of the modern theory of Probability. The authors not only present the subject of Brownian motion as a dry part of mathematical analysis, but convey its real meaning and fascination. The opening, heuristic chapter does just this, and it is followed by a comprehensive and self-contained account of the foundations of... (more)

Probability and Statistics (Addison-Wesley series in behavioral science)

Probability and Statistics (Addison-Wesley series in behavioral science)

by Morris H. DeGroot, Mark J. Schervish

Probability & Statistics was written for a one or two semester probability and statistics course offered primarily at four-year institutions and taken mostly by sophomore and junior level students, majoring in mathematics or statistics. Calculus is a prerequisite, and a familiarity with the concepts and elementary properties of vectors and matrices is a plus. The revision of this well-respected text presents a... (more)

One Hundred Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know

One Hundred Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know

by John D. Barrow

Eminent cosmologist and writer John D. Barrow uses simple mathematics to answer one hundred perplexing questions from everyday life. Mathematics can reveal and illuminate things about the complex world we live in that can’t be found any other way. In this hugely informative and entertaining book, John D. Barrow takes the most perplexing of everyday phenomena—from the odds of winning the lottery and the... (more)

The Numerati

by Stephen Baker

"Steve Baker puts his finger on perhaps the most important cultural trend today: the explosion of data about every aspect of our world and the rise of applied math gurus who know how to use it." --Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine (Wired Magazine ) An urgent look at how a global math elite is predicting and altering our behavior -- at work, at the mall, and in bed Every day we produce loads of... (more)

Introduction to Probability Models

by Sheldon M. Ross

Introduction to Probability Models, 8th Edition , continues to introduce and inspire readers to the art of applying probability theory to phenomena in fields such as engineering, computer science, management and actuarial science, the physical and social sciences, and operations research. Now revised and updated, this best-selling book retains its hallmark intuitive, lively writing style, captivating introduction... (more)

Stochastic Differential Equations: An Introduction with Applications (Universitext)

Stochastic Differential Equations: An Introduction with Applications (Universitext)

by B. K. \c3\98ksendal

This book gives an introduction to the basic theory of stochastic calculus and its applications. Examples are given throughout the text, in order to motivate and illustrate the theory and show its importance for many applications in e.g. economics, biology and physics. The basic idea of the presentation is to start from some basic results (without proofs) of the easier cases and develop the theory from there, and... (more)

Understanding Probability: Chance Rules in Everyday Life

Understanding Probability: Chance Rules in Everyday Life

by H. C. Tijms

In this fully revised second edition of Understanding Probability, the reader can learn about the world of probability in an informal way. The author demystifies the law of large numbers, betting systems, random walks, the bootstrap, rare events, the central limit theorem, the Bayesian approach and more. This second edition has wider coverage, more explanations and examples and exercises, and a new chapter... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: probability

The Impact of the Highly Improbable

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

by Leonard Mlodinow

by Judi Barrett

by Michael Kaplan

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

by Peter L. Bernstein

by John Allen Paulos

by John Allen Paulos

by Patrick Billingsley

by John Allen Paulos

by John Allen Paulos

The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

by Ben Mezrich

by L. C. G. Rogers, D. Williams

by Morris H. DeGroot, Mark J. Schervish

by John D. Barrow

by Stephen Baker

by Sheldon M. Ross

by B. K. \c3\98ksendal

by H. C. Tijms