Thinking Probabilistically

‘A remarkable demonstration that advanced topics need not be esoteric. Amir takes us through random walks on networks, extreme value statistics, Kramers theory, anomalous diffusion and other topics generally omitted from introductory texts, always rooting every discussion in applications of terrific current interest. I found the discussion of Lévy-stable distributions especially insightful as a principled approach to the nonstandard walks that abound in contexts from biophysics to finance.’ Philip C. Nelson, University of Pennsylvania‘The book is a suitable springboard for self-study because it introduces a wide variety of topics and contains many references to current work. In the classroom, the book can function either as the basis for a course in special topics or as a source of material to spice up more traditional statistical-mechanics courses … the methods for studying random phenomena introduced in Thinking Probabilistically will help readers understand reasoning techniques that may not be terribly familiar to physicists. Moreover, following the author’s arguments is a rewarding intellectual exercise in its own right.’ Rob de Ruyter, Physics Today

Ariel Amir is a Professor at Harvard University, Massachusetts. His research centers on the theory of complex systems.