Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
 Clear, Friendly, and Useful November 19, 2009
Robert E. Welcyng (Anchorage, AK USA)
Despite some errors, I found this book useful as well as pleasantly entertaining. I believe the book might be useful for someone who has had previous exposure to probability theory and would like to get up to speed again through a quick review. The book might also be helpful as a supplementary resource for a student taking a probability course. For a first venture into studying probability however, there are probably more suitable books such as Allan G. Bluman's Probability DeMystified. Probability For Dummies is not the book for those expecting proofs or a rigorous mathematical treatment.
The author writes lucidly and concisely and with a personal and friendly tone. Before getting into probability itself, the text provides a good foundation to counting, combinations, and permutations. The author's approach, after first reviewing principles, is to present a problem that the reader ought to first consider and try to work out on her own. The author then provides a clear step-by-step explanation of the solution with formulas and results. Each example problem has been well selected for its tutorial value. The skills gained from the example problems are subsequently built upon. The reader needs to grasp the concept of the examples before moving on, as there are no additional exercises provided for practice.
The quite logical organization of the book will enable the reader to skip around if she wishes and to concentrate on a particular topic. For example, various classical distributions, such as the normal, binomial, Poisson, geometric, etc., are each treated in nearly self-contained individual chapters.
Unfortunately some errors have marred the book, although I do not feel that they are critical ones that disqualify the remainder of the book.
On page 9, both the definition and example of the term "odds" are incorrect. "Odds" is not the ratio of the denominator to the numerator of a probability, but rather the ratio of the probability of success for a given event to the probability of failure of that event. If the probability of a horse winning a race is 50%, the odds of the horse winning is 1 to 1, not 2 to 1 as the book states.
On page 169, the formula that defines the normal distribution is incorrect. The denominator of the exponent should be "twice sigma", not "sigma".
On page 170, the formula that defines the Z distribution is incorrect. The exponent "minus Z squared" should be "minus Z squared divided by two".
 Outstanding especially for students with rusty probability skills! June 21, 2009
Robert S. Johnson (Westerville, OH)
I am taking a grad school class dealing with lots of Probability Distribution Models and concepts - and it has been a few years - okay a few DECADES since I first was exposed to these concepts. My prof was busy racing through lecture slides at the "Kleinrock" level of probability detail, and my eyes were glazed over and I was lost. Probability for Dummies has quickly allowed me to catch up with my prof, and now feel confident again about the concepts my prof assumed I knew with perfect recall from long, long ago. If you need consise and well written explanations of probability concepts such as pdfs, cdfs, probability distribution models, the Central Limit Theorem, etc. this book is a great help. This book is extremely 'student friendly' in that the author offers many coaching tips and comments for students from her wealth of experience as a teacher of Probability classes. Excellent book for for those looking for a quick refresher of Probability concepts!
Summarizes Probability. May 28, 2009
Jose Morales (Syracuse, NY)
This book helps summarize probability for people who think about this topic with a foggy expression on their face. A decent book overall.
For a brush-up on that learned so long ago, or as a friendly comprehendible introduction May 22, 2009
DHS (Houston, TX)
This book is well-written, and provides very easily understandable examples for all topics discussed. As an introductory book, you will not be disappointed. The author presents the topics in a clear and concise manner, and importantly, doesn't explain concepts entirely with mathematical formulas (something I have noticed is quite common for graduate level probability and statistics textbooks).
I highly recommend this book for those beginning to grasp the concept of probability and statistics. Or, like me, someone who needed a little brush-up on this very useful subject matter.
probability explained July 14, 2008
James Henry Nunn Jr. (GUARUJA, BRAZIL)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
A complex subject explained in a straightforward way with real world examples. Another exellent book by the same author of Statistics for Dummies.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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