Counterexamples in Probability: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:17, 17 April 2024

Latest revision as of 17:07, 24 April 2025

(7 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|2013 book by J. M. Stoyanov}}{{Infobox book

| author = Jordan M. Stoyanov

| isbn = 978-0-471-91649-9

| pub_date = 1987

| genre = Mathematics

| publisher = Wiley

| subject = [[Probability theory]]

}}

{{italic title}}

'''''Counterexamples in Probability''''' is a mathematics book by Jordan M. Stoyanov. Intended to serve as a supplemental text for classes on [[probability theory]] and related topics, it covers cases where a mathematical proposition might seem to be true but actually turns out to be false.

Line 6 ⟶ 14:

==Reception==

Robert W. Hayden, reviewing the book for the [[Mathematical Association of America]], found it unsuitable for reading cover-to-cover, while recommending it as a reference for "graduate students and probabilists...the small audience whose needs match the title and level."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://old.maa.org/press/maa-reviews/counterexamples-in-probability |title=Counterexamples in Probability |website=[[MAA Reviews]] |publisher=[[Mathematical Association of America]] |date=2014-10-27 |access-date=2024-04-17 |first=Robert W. |last=Hayden}}</ref> Similarly, Geoffrey Grimmett called the book an "excellent browse" that, despite being a "serious work of scholarship" would not be suitable as a course textbook.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Geoffrey |last=Grimmett |title=none |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A]] |volume=152 |number=1 |pages=135-136 |doi=10.2307/2982850 |year=1989}}</ref> R. W. Hammett wrote that it "should become a classic supplement" for those students who wish to togo above and beyond their ordinary course requirements, and that "it should also become essential to those who plan to work in the field."<ref>{{cite journal|first=R. W. |last=Hammond |title=none |journal=[[Journal of the American Statistical Association]] |volume=85 |number=410 |page=592 |year=1990 |doi=10.2307/2289807}}</ref> D. R. Grey gave it a positive evaluation as a reference text while noting that the counterexamples it includes range "from those accessible to first-year undergraduates ... to those only comprehensible to specialists in stochastic processes".<ref>{{cite journal|first=D. R. |last=Grey |title=none |journal=[[The Statistician]] |volume=38 |number=1 |year=1989 |pages=79-80 |doi=10.2307/2349025}}</ref>

Richard Durrett gave a more negative review, saying that "Most readers will learn a few interesting things" but regarding most of the counterexamples to be well-known or redundant. While Durrett appreciated the illustrations by A. T. Fomenko,<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=27855910 |first=Richard |last=Durrett |title=none |journal=[[American Scientist]] |volume=77 |number=4 |year=1989 |page=405}}</ref> the more positive review by F. W. Steutel did not, calling them a "rather unhappy cross" between [[Salvador Dalí|Dalí]] and [[M. C. Escher|Escher]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=F. W. |last=Steutel |year=1989 |title=none |journal=[[Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society]] |volume=21 |number=3 |pages=300-301 |doi=10.1112/blms/21.3.300}}</ref>

==Publication history==

* {{cite book|last=Stoyanov |first=J. RM. |title=Counterexamples in Probability |edition=2nd1st |publisher=Wiley |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-471-91649-9}}

* {{cite book|last=Stoyanov |first=J. RM. |title=Counterexamples in Probability |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-471-96538-1}}

* {{cite book|last=Stoyanov |first=J. RM. |title=Counterexamples in Probability |edition=3nd |publisher=Dover |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-486-49998-7}}

The book was also issued in Russian editions in 1999 and 2012.

==See also==

* ''[[Counterexamples in Probability and Statistics]],'' a different book with similar subject matter

==References==

Line 20 ⟶ 31:

[[Category:2013 non-fiction books]]

[[Category:Books about mathematical counterexamples|Probability]]

[[Category:Probability books]]