A Modern Introduction To Probability And Statistics ― Understanding Why and How

Probability and Statistics are studied by most science students. Many current texts in the area are just cookbooks and, as a result, students do not know why they perform the methods they are taught, or why the methods work. This book readdresses these shortcomings; by using examples, often from real-life and using real data, the authors show how the fundamentals of probabilistic and statistical theories arise intuitively. There are numerous quick exercises to give direct feedback to students, and over 350 exercises, half of which have answers, of which half have full solutions. A website gives access to the data files used in the text, and, for instructors, the remaining solutions. The only prerequisite is a first course in calculus.

Michel Dekking, Cor Kraaikamp, Rik Lopuhaa and Ludolf Meester are professors in the Department of Applied Mathematics at TU Delft, The Netherlands. The material in this book has been successfully taught there for several years, and at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, and Wesleyan University, USA, since 2003.