I started and finished A Sense of Direction in one evening; I couldn't really stop thinking about it, so I couldn't put it down. I found it...
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In this novel from the middle of the Spenser series (this one written in 2001), Spenser is called on to investigate the killing of some horses on a thoroughbred farm in Georgia. It's typical Parker - the plot moves along, the dialogue is quick - but some of the usual gang of characters are absent (no Hawk, no Vinnie).
If you like the Spenser series, you'll probably like this one; it's good, but not top level for the series.
An outstanding novel. A novel about first contact with an alien species; but also about what it means to have faith in God, what love is, and what it means to be civilized.
I am astonished that this is a first novel, and will eagerly read other books by Dr. Russell.
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(2 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)
It's about the Monty Hall problem, the classic version of which is:
You are on a game show. You are presented with three doors.
Behind one of them is a car, behind the other two are goats. You
get to choose a door. But before you open it, the host (Monty Hall),
who knows where the car is, opens one of the other doors. He always
opens a door with a goat. If both of the unchosen doors have goats,
he picks one at random. The car was placed randomly, with 1/3 chance
for each door.
You are then offered a chance to change doors, or stick with your
choice.
What should you do?
Here's the table of contents:
1. Ancestral Monty
has considerable detail about the origins of the problem and the huge outcry when vos Savant published the right answer. This is presented in a light and humorous way, showing how the intuition of many people is completely wrong.
2. Classical Monty
covers the problem above, giving reasons based on intuition, as well as on formal probability.
3. Bayesian Monty
covers a variation in which Monty does not know which door has the car, and introduces Bayesian notions.
4. Progressive Monty
is by far the most technical in the book; it covers many variations on the problem, and teaches a lot of probability theory.
5. Miscellaneous Monty
covers some additional variations on the problem
6. Cognitive Monty
discusses why our intuition is so wrong on this problem and others, and reviews research into this.
7. Philosophical Monty
discusses philosophical issues in probability
8. Final Monty
sums up.
Who should read the book?
I think it has a couple audiences. First, if you are taking a formal probability course at university, this could be a good backup to your text. OTOH, if you are *teaching* such a course, you could use this as a main text (I've never seen a probability text that is this much fun to read). A course based on this book would cover a lot of the ground of a one-semester intro to probability course.
Among the general population, I think this book could be read in two ways: First, you could read chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8, and either skip 3, 4, and 5 or skim them. (Chapter 4, in particular, will be heavy going). Second, if you want to learn probability theory, you could read the whole book. In this case, you'll want to read it more like a text book.
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Peter Flom has commented on (3) products.
Hugger Mugger by Robert B Parker
Peter Flom, August 12, 2009
Spenser heads south.In this novel from the middle of the Spenser series (this one written in 2001), Spenser is called on to investigate the killing of some horses on a thoroughbred farm in Georgia. It's typical Parker - the plot moves along, the dialogue is quick - but some of the usual gang of characters are absent (no Hawk, no Vinnie).
If you like the Spenser series, you'll probably like this one; it's good, but not top level for the series.
The Sparrow (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Mary Doria Russell
Peter Flom, July 4, 2009
An outstanding novel. A novel about first contact with an alien species; but also about what it means to have faith in God, what love is, and what it means to be civilized.I am astonished that this is a first novel, and will eagerly read other books by Dr. Russell.
(2 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)
The Monty Hall Problem: The Remarkable Story of Math's Most Contentious Brainteaser by Jason Rosenhouse
Peter Flom, May 2, 2009
What's in this book?It's about the Monty Hall problem, the classic version of which is:
You are on a game show. You are presented with three doors.
Behind one of them is a car, behind the other two are goats. You
get to choose a door. But before you open it, the host (Monty Hall),
who knows where the car is, opens one of the other doors. He always
opens a door with a goat. If both of the unchosen doors have goats,
he picks one at random. The car was placed randomly, with 1/3 chance
for each door.
You are then offered a chance to change doors, or stick with your
choice.
What should you do?
Here's the table of contents:
1. Ancestral Monty
has considerable detail about the origins of the problem and the huge outcry when vos Savant published the right answer. This is presented in a light and humorous way, showing how the intuition of many people is completely wrong.
2. Classical Monty
covers the problem above, giving reasons based on intuition, as well as on formal probability.
3. Bayesian Monty
covers a variation in which Monty does not know which door has the car, and introduces Bayesian notions.
4. Progressive Monty
is by far the most technical in the book; it covers many variations on the problem, and teaches a lot of probability theory.
5. Miscellaneous Monty
covers some additional variations on the problem
6. Cognitive Monty
discusses why our intuition is so wrong on this problem and others, and reviews research into this.
7. Philosophical Monty
discusses philosophical issues in probability
8. Final Monty
sums up.
Who should read the book?
I think it has a couple audiences. First, if you are taking a formal probability course at university, this could be a good backup to your text. OTOH, if you are *teaching* such a course, you could use this as a main text (I've never seen a probability text that is this much fun to read). A course based on this book would cover a lot of the ground of a one-semester intro to probability course.
Among the general population, I think this book could be read in two ways: First, you could read chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8, and either skip 3, 4, and 5 or skim them. (Chapter 4, in particular, will be heavy going). Second, if you want to learn probability theory, you could read the whole book. In this case, you'll want to read it more like a text book.