Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

From terrorist attacks to big money jackpots, Struck by Lightning deconstructs the odds and oddities of chance, examining both the relevant and irreverent role of randomness in our everyday lives. Human beings have long been both fascinated and appalled by randomness. On the one hand, we love the thrill of a surprise party, the unpredictability of a budding romance, or the freedom of not knowing what tomorrow will bring. We are inexplicably delighted by strange coincidences and striking similarities. But we also hate uncertainty's dark side. From cancer to SARS, diseases strike with no apparent pattern. Terrorists attack, airplanes crash, bridges collapse, and we never know if we'll be that one in a million statistic. We are all constantly faced with situations and choices that involve randomness and uncertainty. A basic understanding of the rules of probability theory, applied to real-life circumstances, can help us to make sense of these situations, to avoid unnecessary fear, to seize the opportunities that randomness presents to us, and to actually enjoy the uncertainties we face. The reality is that when it comes to randomness, you can run, but you can't hide. So many aspects of our lives are governed by events that are simply not in our control. In this entertaining yet sophisticated look at the world of probabilities, author Jeffrey Rosenthal-an improbably talented math professor-explains the mechanics of randomness and teaches us how to develop an informed perspective on probability.

Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, author of the bestseller Struck by The Curious World of Probabilities, was born on Friday the thirteenth, a fact that he discovered long after he had become one of the world’s pre-eminent statisticians. Had he been living ignorantly and innocently under an unlucky cloud for all those years? Or is thirteen just another number? As a scientist and a man of reason, Rosenthal has long considered the value of luck, good and bad, seeking to measure chance and hope in formulas scratched out on chalkboards.In Knock on Wood, with great humour and irreverence, Rosenthal divines the world of luck, fate and chance, putting his considerable scientific acumen to the test in deducing whether luck is real or the mere stuff of superstition.

“This is a fine textbook on probability theory based on measure theory. The parts of measure theory that are needed are developed within the book and a teacher of measure theory could find them quite useful. The construction of the Lebesgue measure (extension theorem) is unusual and interesting.” Mathematical Reviews “This short, lucid and excellent textbook should be a required course for all graduate students of mathematics and statistics as well as for interested graduate / PhD students in engineering, computer sciences, economics, and management who lack exposure to measure theoretic applications in probability theory.” Professor B K Sahu Indian Institute of Technology, India Solutions Manual for Free Download This textbook is an introduction to probability theory using measure theory. It is designed for graduate students in a variety of fields (mathematics, statistics, economics, management, finance, computer science, and engineering) who require a working knowledge of probability theory that is mathematically precise, but without excessive technicalities. The text provides complete proofs of all the essential introductory results. Nevertheless, the treatment is focused and accessible, with the measure theory and mathematical details presented in terms of intuitive probabilistic concepts, rather than as separate, imposing subjects. In this new edition, many exercises and small additional topics have been added and existing ones expanded. The text strikes an appropriate balance, rigorously developing probability theory while avoiding unnecessary detail.

Olasılık, kamuoyu araştırmalarından, sigorta poliçelerinden, cinayet oranlarının ve doğal felaketlerin yarattığı endişelere kadar her şeyde çok önemli bir yere sahiptir, yine de bu durum genellikle ve gereksiz yere yanlış yorumlanır. Matematik profesörü ve doğaçlama komedi ustası olan Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, rastlantısallığın olasılıklarını ve garipliklerini, çok satanlar listelerinden düşmeyen bu kural dışı kitabıyla ortaya çıkarıyor. İstenmeyen e-postalar, seçimler ve televizyonlardaki oyun programları gibi bildik konuları ele alan Başıma Yıldırım Düştü! okuru hem aydınlatıyor hem de eğlendiriyor. Büyük bir olasılıkla dünyaya bir daha asla aynı gözle bakmayacaksınız. Jeffrey S. Rosenthal Toronto Üniversitesi, İstatistik ve Matematik Bölümlerinde öğretim üyesi. 24 yaşındayken Harvard`da matematik doktorasını bitirdi. Olasılık kuramı üzerine iki ders kitabı yazmanın yanında amatör bir müzisyen ve bilgisayar oyunu programcısıdır.