"Remarkable puzzlers, graded in difficulty, illustrate elementary and advanced aspects of probability. These problems were selected for originality, general interest, or because they demonstrate valuable techniques. Also includes detailed solutions.
Can you solve the problem of ""The Unfair Subway""? Marvin gets off work at random times between 3 and 5 p.m. His mother lives uptown, his girlfriend downtown. He takes the first subway that comes in either direction and eats dinner with the one he is delivered to. His mother complains that he never comes to see her, but he says she has a 50-50 chance. He has had dinner with her twice in the last 20 working days. Explain. Marvin's adventures in probability are one of the fifty intriguing puzzles that illustrate both elementary ad advanced aspects of probability, each problem designed to challenge the mathematically inclined. From ""The Flippant Juror"" and ""The Prisoner's Dilemma"" to ""The Cliffhanger"" and ""The Clumsy Chemist,"" they provide an ideal supplement for all who enjoy the stimulating fun of mathematics. Professor Frederick Mosteller, who teaches statistics at Harvard University, has chosen the problems for originality, general interest, or because they demonstrate valuable techniques. In addition, the problems are graded as to difficulty and many have considerable stature. Indeed, one has ""enlivened the research lives of many excellent mathematicians."" Detailed solutions are included. There is every probability you'll need at least a few of them."
By:
Frederick Mosteller,
Stanley Appelbaum
Imprint: Dover
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 5mm,
Width: 140mm,
Spine: 215mm
Weight: 130g
ISBN: 9780486653556
ISBN 10: 0486653552
Series: Dover Books on Mathema 1.4tics
Publication Date: 01 May 1987
Audience:
College/higher education
,
A / AS level
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified
"1. The sock drawer 2. Successive wins 3. The flippant juror 4. Trials until first success 5. Coin in square 6. Chuck-a-luck 7. Curing the compulsive gambler 8. Perfect bridge hand 9. Craps 10. An experiment in personal taste for money 11. Silent cooperation 12. Quo vadis? 13. The prisoner's dilemma 14. ""Collecting coupons, including Euler's approximation for harmonic sums"" 15. The theater row 16. Will second-best be runner-up? 17. Twin knights 18. ""An even split at coin tossing, including Stirling's approximation"" 19. Isaac Newton helps Samuel Pepys 20. The three-cornered duel 21. Should you sample with or without replacement? 22. The ballot box 23. Ties in matching pennies 24. The unfair subway 25. Lengths of random chords 26. The hurried duelers 27. Catching the cautious counterfeiter 28. ""Catching the greedy counterfeiter, including the Poisson distribution"" 29. Moldy gelation 30. Evening the sales 31. Birthday pairings 32. Finding your birthmate 33. Relating the birthday pairings and birthmate problems 34. Birthday holidays 35. The cliff-hanger 36. Gambler's ruin 37. Bold play vs. cautious play 38. The thick coin Digression: A note on the principle of symmetry when points are dropped on a line 39. The clumsy chemist 40. The first ace 41. The locomotive problem 42. The little end of the stick 43. The broken bar 44. Winning an unfair game 45. Average number of matches 46. Probabilities of matches 47. Choosing the largest dowry 48. Choosing the largest random number 49. Doubling your accuracy 50. Random quadratic equations 51. Two-dimensional random walk 52. Three-dimensional random walk 53. Buffon's needle 54. Buffon's needle with horizontal and vertical rulings 55. Long needles 56. Molina's urns"
