Probability and statistics : the science of uncertainty /
John Tabak.
- New Dehli : Viva Books, 2006
- xiv, 226 p. ill ; 24 cm.
- The history of mathematics .
Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-213) and index.
1. Contents 2. Acknowledgments viii 3. Introduction: what is probability? Ix 4. Part one: probability 1 5. 1-the idea of randomness a. Randomness before the theory of probability b. Early difficulties in developing a theory of randomness 6. 2-the nature of chance a. Galileo galilei b. Pierre de fermat and blaise pascal c. Christiaan huygens d. Jacob bernoulli e. Abraham de moivre 7. 3-surprising insights into probability and its uses a. Thomas bayes and inverse probability b. Buffon and the needle problem c. Daniel bernoulli and smallpox d. Jean le rond d'alembert and the evaluation of risk e. Leonhard euler and lotteries 8. 4-randomness in a deterministic universe a. Poisson 9. 5-random processes a. James clerk maxwell b. Brownian motion revisited c. Markov processes 10. 6-probability as a mathematical discipline a. Theory and practice 11. 7-three applications of the theory of probability a. Nuclear reactor safety b. Markov chains and information theory c. Smallpox in modern historical times 12. Part two: statistics 13. Introduction: the age of information 14. 8-the beginnings of statistics a. The beginning of statistics b. Edmund halley 15. 9-data analysis and the problem of precision 16. 10-the birth of modern statistics a. Karl pearson b. R.a. Fisher 17. 11-the theory of sampling a. The problem b. Walter shewhart and statistical quality control c. William edwards deming 18. 12-three applications of statistics a. The birth of epidemiology b. The u.s. Census c. Political polling 19. Appendixes 20. Chronology 21. Glossary 22. Further reading, modern books 23. Original sources 24. Internet resources 25. Periodicals, through the mail or on-line 26. Index