A collection of stimulating probability puzzles from bestselling math
writer Paul Nahin
What are the chances of a game-show contestant finding a chicken in a
box? Is the Hanukkah dreidel a fair game? Will you be alive ten years
from now? These are just some of the one-of-a-kind probability puzzles
that acclaimed popular math writer Paul Nahin offers in this lively and
informative book.
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. 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. All
the MATLAB(R) Monte Carlo simulation codes needed to solve the problems
computationally are included in the book. With his characteristic wit,
audacity, and insight, Nahin demonstrates why seemingly simple
probability problems can stump even the experts.
