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Introduction to Probability with R

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MAA Review

This advanced undergraduate textbook is a pleasure to read and this reviewer will definitely consider it next time he teaches the subject. The programming language R is an open-source, freely downloadable software package that is used in the book to illustrate various examples. However, the book is well usable even if you do not have the time to include too much programming in your class. All programs of the book, and several others, are downloadable from the book's website.

While there are not as many exercises than in some competing textbooks, the exercises of this book are a lot of fun! They often have some historical background, they tell a story, and they are never routine. Every chapter also starts with historical background, helping the student realize that this subject was developed by actual people.

All classic topics that you would want to cover in an introductory probability class are covered. Statistics get one chapter, related to the normal distribution. Another aspect in which the book stands out among the competition is that discrete probability gets its due treatment.

When can I teach this class next?

Miklós Bóna is Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Florida.

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