Will You Be Alive 10 Years from Now?: And Numerous Other Curious Questions in Probability

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The book arrived a couple of days ago and I'm intrigued and challenged by the problems and history. Already some of the historical context of famous problems presented here has helped me appreciate their origin and the solutions offered by some of history's great thinkers. So, many thanks for this work! The book was accompanied by 2 other of Prof.

Nahon's books and I'm looking forward to jumping into those shortly as well. It's full of very useful and practical information. Recreational mathematical puzzles, usually involving made-up stories, often involve probability -- this is a tradition dating back at least to Lewis Carroll's Pillow Problems, in the 19th century.

A typical first course in mathematical probability, at the college freshman or advanced high school level, teaches mathematical techniques via examples and exercises, many presented merely as mathematics but others drawing from this "made-up story" tradition. A less common style of mathematics teaching emphasizes problem-solving rather than textbook reading, and this works well for motivated students enthusiastic about mathematics a small minority, alas. The present book continues in the same style, consisting mainly of 25 short average 6 pages chapters, each giving a "made-up story" problem and implicitly challenging the reader to find the solution before reading the author's solution.

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So it's a useful additional resource for problem-loving students or for an inexperienced instructor who is not acquainted with the extensive body of elementary problems from which these problems have been sampled. But it's not particularly novel or inspiring.

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The title is rather misleading, referring to the only one of the 25 problems that uses real-world data life tables. I've found the work a very cute exposition of some interesting everyday type problems that have nice solutions by applying probabilistic methodology. The writing is excellent, and Nahin in not new to providing such as he has written more than ten bestselling books in the last 12 years. This particular one has the added advantage that simulation code is provided for most of the difficult problems, and while the code is in Mat lab, it can be easily seen to be modified for use in just about any language.

Thus the book makes a good extra augmentation to a basic course in probability and simulations and can indeed be used in an academic setting for just that! All twenty five problems are presented in a clear, and many times strikingly cute manner, as are the solutions. This is an exemplary text for those wanting to write good quantitative texts. If you enjoyed the author's previous books on probability puzzles Dueling Idiots and Digital Dice , then this one continues that theme with the same playfulness.

Yes, Professor Nahin actually does calculate the probability of being alive 10 years from now. With a year of basic calculus under your belt, and the willingness to just have fun with math, this book will satisfy. Nahin, if you're reading this review, I just want to say a Thank You for all your books. From Oliver Heaviside to this one, they've given much pleasure.

Many of your examples I've used in my mathematics classes. Now, please, get busy on that next one! The title is a ploy to get you to think that this is a fun book. Most of the book, however, is only for mathematical experts. See all 7 reviews.

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Set up a giveaway. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. How to Fall Slower Than Gravity: In Praise of Simple Physics: When Least Is Best: There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Get to Know Us. English Choose a language for shopping. Explore the Home Gift Guide. Nahin brings probability to life with colorful and amusing historical anecdotes as well as an electrifying approach to solving puzzles that illustrates many of the techniques that mathematicians and scientists use to grapple with probability.

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He looks at classic puzzles from the past--from Galileo's dice-tossing problem to a disarming dice puzzle that would have astonished even Newton--and also includes a dozen challenge problems for you to tackle yourself, with complete solutions provided in the back of the book. Nahin then presents twenty-five unusual probability puzzlers that you aren't likely to find anywhere else, and which range in difficulty from ones that are easy but clever to others that are technically intricate. Each problem is accompanied by an entertaining discussion of its background and solution, and is backed up by theory and computer simulations whenever possible in order to show how theory and computer experimentation can often work together on probability questions.

With his characteristic wit, audacity, and insight, Nahin demonstrates why seemingly simple probability problems can stump even the experts. Popular-math writer Paul Nahin challenges readers to solve twenty-one difficult but fun problems, from determining the odds of coin-flipping games to figuring out the behavior of elevators. Problems build from relatively easy deciding whether a dishwasher who breaks most of the dishes at a restaurant during a given week is clumsy or just the victim of randomness to the very difficult tackling branching processes of the kind that had to be solved by Manhattan Project mathematician Stanislaw Ulam.

In his characteristic style, Nahin brings the problems to life with interesting and odd historical anecdotes. Readers learn, for example, not just how to determine the optimal stopping point in any selection process but that astronomer Johannes Kepler selected his second wife by interviewing eleven women. The book shows readers how to write elementary computer codes using any common programming language, and provides solutions and line-by-line walk-throughs of a MATLAB code for each problem.

Digital Dice will appeal to anyone who enjoys popular math or computer science. In a new preface, Nahin wittily addresses some of the responses he received to the first edition. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts.

So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens.

They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps usually some version of us and them to the way we consume media where fear rules to how we perceive progress believing that most things are getting worse. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think.

But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. But I hope this book will be.

If idiots A and B alternately take aim at each other with a six-shot revolver containing one bullet, what is the probability idiot A will win? What are the chances it will snow on your birthday in any given year? How can researchers use coin flipping and the laws of probability to obtain honest answers to embarrassing survey questions? The solutions are presented here in detail, and many contain a profound element of surprise. And some puzzles are beautiful illustrations of basic mathematical concepts: Written in an informal way and containing a plethora of interesting historical material, Duelling Idiots is ideal for those who are fascinated by mathematics and the role it plays in everyday life and in our imaginations.

In a series of brief and largely self-contained chapters, Nahin discusses a wide range of topics in which math and physics are mutually dependent and mutually illuminating, from Newtonian gravity and Newton's laws of mechanics to ballistics, air drag, and electricity. The mathematical subjects range from algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and calculus to differential equations, Fourier series, and theoretical and Monte Carlo probability.

Each chapter includes problems--some three dozen in all--that challenge readers to try their hand at applying what they have learned. Just as in his other books of mathematical puzzles, Nahin discusses the historical background of each problem, gives many examples, includes MATLAB codes, and provides complete and detailed solutions at the end.

Perkins's Electric Quilt will appeal to students interested in new math and physics applications, teachers looking for unusual examples to use in class--and anyone who enjoys popular math books. Account Options Sign in. Nahin November 24, What are the chances of a game-show contestant finding a chicken in a box? Is the Hanukkah dreidel a fair game?