I took at least one college course in statistics and probability, but somehow never really grasped the concepts. Then, eight years ago I needed a probability proof during the USPTO evaluation of my patent.

Thankfully, I was able to solicit verification of the proof via the web from Dr. Henry G. Baker (then of Nimble Computing) and in person from my mentor at the time, Dr. Carl Bowling (then of the Computer Systems Engineering department at the University of Arkansas.)

Still, I needed to find the proof validated "in print." One day at a Barnes & Noble bookstore on a sale table I discovered Derek Rowntree's "Probability Without Tears." (The tears part no doubt refers to the two biggest fields associated with proabability theory since its invention in the eighteenth century: gambling and insurance.)

The book truly is a probability "primer for non-mathematicians" and provides a constant reference source for my software work. Bits of everything in it are buried within other books, but Rowntree is quite inclusive and lucid (there are example problems throughout each chapter and additional test problems following each chapter.)

If there is anything like this gem of a book, I have yet to find it.

Favorites: John F. Simon Jr.'s Every Icon * Law of Diminishing Returns * Patently Absurd * Sir Arthur C. Clarke * W. Daniel Hillis * Claude E. Shannon -2 * The New York Times * The Buckminster Fuller Institute * Chautauqua * LuLu Press * Dan Bricklin * William Dunk