Thinking Probabilistically: Stochastic Processes, Disordered Systems, and Their Applications

by Ariel Amir

Probability theory has diverse applications in a plethora of fields, including physics, engineering, computer science, chemistry, biology and economics. This book will familiarize students with various applications of probability theory, stochastic modeling and random processes, using examples from all these disciplines and more. The reader learns via case studies and begins to recognize the sort of problems that are best tackled probabilistically. The emphasis is on conceptual understanding, the development of intuition and gaining insight, keeping technicalities to a minimum. Nevertheless, a glimpse into the depth of the topics is provided, preparing students for more specialized texts while assuming only an undergraduate-level background in mathematics. The wide range of areas covered - never before discussed together in a unified fashion – includes Markov processes and random walks, Langevin and Fokker–Planck equations, noise, generalized central limit theorem and extreme values statistics, random matrix theory and percolation theory.

242 pages, Hardcover

Published February 4, 2021

Reviews

[George · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a topic I am very interested in and already know quite a bit about. I really do NOT like this book though!

It is a very superficial tour of some interesting and important topics that leaves me feeling like I've seen a series of magic tricks but never been allowed to see how things really work. On the sections that I already know about, I can see how the author 'cons' the reader into thinking he has explained the topic, when in fact he has only given us the 'highlights' in a way that makes it impossible for the reader to learn anything of real value. It is a rather complete waste of time and money.

Before buying this book, I urge you to try reading a chapter or two, and decide whether I am right in warning you against buying it!