Synopsis

Many people do not understand the basic concepts of probability, as evidenced by the proliferation of those participating in lotteries, horse racing, and gambling at casinos. But probability and statistics are becoming increasingly important in today’s society. As the basic ideas are being taught in elementary schools through college, it’s important that everyone has a basic understanding of probability theory.

Probability theory explains the happenings that occur due to chance. Although it is not possible to predict for certain the individual outcome of a chance process, it is possible to determine outcomes in the “long run,” and to predict the probability that something will eventually occur.

This book will present the basics of probability in a non-rigorous manner. Only an understanding of arithmetic and some basic algebra are necessary to learn these ideas. No high-powered mathematical notation or formal proofs will be used, rather the concepts will be developed from examples using coins, dice, cards, and other common probability devices.

Biography

Allan Bluman is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the South Campus of the Community College of Allegheny County, in Pennsylvania. He has taught most of the math and statistics courses on the campus, as well as arithmetic fundamentals, since 1972. Professor Bluman has written several articles and books, including Modern Math Fun Book (Cuisinaire Publishing); Elementary Statistics: A Step-by-Step Approach, now in its Fifth Edition, and Elementary Statistics: A Brief Version, now in its Second Edition, both from McGraw-Hill.