Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: probability, problems, practical, solutions, dice, computational, digital
Number of Pages: 276
Published: 2008-03-23
List price: $27.95
ISBN-10: 0691126984
ISBN-13: 9780691126982

Some probability problems are so difficult that they stump the smartest mathematicians. But even the hardest of these problems can often be solved with a computer and a Monte Carlo simulation, in which a random-number generator simulates a physical process, such as a million rolls of a pair of dice. This is what Digital Dice is all about: how to get numerical answers to difficult probability problems without having to solve complicated mathematical equations. Popular-math writer Paul Nahin challenges readers to solve twenty-one difficult but fun problems, from determining the odds of coin-flip

Author: Bryan Caplan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: choose, policies, democracies, voter, rational, myth
Number of Pages: 280
Published: 2007-04-16
List price: $29.95
ISBN-10: 0691129428
ISBN-13: 9780691129426

The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan’s sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book. Caplan argues that voters continually elect politicians who either share their biases or else pretend to, resulting in bad policies winning again and again by popular demand.Boldly calling into question our most basic assumptions about American politics, Caplan contends that democracy fails precis

Author: Gregory Clark
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: world, history, economic, western, princeton, alms, brief, farewell
Number of Pages: 432
Published: 2007-07-24
List price: $29.95
ISBN-10: 0691121354
ISBN-13: 9780691121352

Why are some parts of the world so rich and others so poor? Why did the Industrial Revolution--and the unprecedented economic growth that came with it--occur in eighteenth-century England, and not at some other time, or in some other place? Why didn’t industrialization make the whole world rich--and why did it make large parts of the world even poorer? In A Farewell to Alms, Gregory Clark tackles these profound questions and suggests a new and provocative way in which culture--not exploitation, geography, or resources--explains the wealth, and the poverty, of nations. Countering the prev

Author: Robert Gibbons
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: economists, applied, theory, game
Number of Pages: 288
Published: 1992-07-13
List price: $55.00
ISBN-10: 0691003955
ISBN-13: 9780691003955

This book introduces one of the most powerful tools of modern economics to a wide audience: those who will later construct or consume game-theoretic models. Robert Gibbons addresses scholars in applied fields within economics who want a serious and thorough discussion of game theory but who may have found other works overly abstract. Gibbons emphasizes the economic applications of the theory at least as much as the pure theory itself; formal arguments about abstract games play a minor role. The applications illustrate the process of model building--of translating an informal description of a m

Author: Efe A. Ok
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: applications, economic, analysis, real
Number of Pages: 664
Published: 2007-01-02
List price: $90.00
ISBN-10: 0691117683
ISBN-13: 9780691117683

There are many mathematics textbooks on real analysis, but they focus on topics not readily helpful for studying economic theory or they are inaccessible to most graduate students of economics. Real Analysis with Economic Applications aims to fill this gap by providing an ideal textbook and reference on real analysis tailored specifically to the concerns of such students. The emphasis throughout is on topics directly relevant to economic theory. In addition to addressing the usual topics of real analysis, this book discusses the elements of order theory, convex analysis, optimization, correspo

Authors:Lawrence Weinstein, John A. Adam,
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: cocktail, napkin, problems, world, solving, guesstimation
Number of Pages: 320
Published: 2008-04-21
List price: $19.95
ISBN-10: 0691129495
ISBN-13: 9780691129495

Guesstimation is a book that unlocks the power of approximation--it’s popular mathematics rounded to the nearest power of ten! The ability to estimate is an important skill in daily life. More and more leading businesses today use estimation questions in interviews to test applicants’ abilities to think on their feet. Guesstimation enables anyone with basic math and science skills to estimate virtually anything--quickly--using plausible assumptions and elementary arithmetic. Lawrence Weinstein and John Adam present an eclectic array of estimation problems that range from devilishly

Author: Dani Rodrik
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Keywords: economic, growth, institutions, globalization, economics, recipes, one
Number of Pages: 280
Published: 2007-09-24
List price: $35.00
ISBN-10: 0691129517
ISBN-13: 9780691129518

In One Economics, Many Recipes, leading economist Dani Rodrik argues that neither globalizers nor antiglobalizers have got it right. While economic globalization can be a boon for countries that are trying to dig out of poverty, success usually requires following policies that are tailored to local economic and political realities rather than obeying the dictates of the international globalization establishment. A definitive statement of Rodrik’s original and influential perspective on economic growth and globalization, One Economics, Many Recipes shows how successful countries craft the