MS 371 - Probability

Professor: Erich Friedman

About the course:

We will meet every MWF at 11:00 in Elizabeth 318. This course will essentially cover the first ten chapters of the text, Fundamentals of Probability by Ghahramani. This course is an introduction to the mathematics of chance, including combinatorial probability, conditional probability, probability densities and distributions, discrete and continuous random variables, joint probability, and limit theorems. Probability has been an active field for over 300 years. Some students think it is hard, because it is often non-intuitive, but you will find it extremely valuable to learn about the mathematics of chance.

About me:

My e-mail address is efriedma@stetson.edu. My web page can be found at http://www.stetson.edu/~efriedma/. My office is Elizabeth 214-2. My office hours this semester are:

This means that I am always in my office during these times, and you can drop by without an appointment. If you cannot make my regularly scheduled hours, let me know and we can set up another time to talk. Please come by if you need help, or if you just want to chat. You will soon see that my lecture style is informal. I will be calling you by your first name (or a nickname if you prefer), so please call me Erich.

About you:

You will need a working knowledge of MS 203 and MS 255. In particular, we first use set theory and proofs in week 1, factorials in week 2, continuity in week 6, Taylor series in week 8, geometric series in week 9, differentiation and integration in week 10, the fundamental theorem of calculus in week 11, sequences in week 12, and partial derivatives and multiple integrals in week 13.

Please review now, as there will be no time for it later. If you fall behind, come see me as soon as possible. Attendance in this class is not mandatory, but it will be very hard for you to learn this material on your own if you do not come to class. Please be respectful of both me and your classmates. This means coming to class on time and not socializing in class. Cheating will not be tolerated.

About your grade:

Homework will not be collected, but I will answer questions in class as time permits. These problems are an indication of what the test problems will look like. I encourage you to work together on the homework problems. You should do as much or as little homework as you need. The leading causes of failing this course are not doing enough homework, and not remembering things from previous courses.

Tests will be given on the 5 dates announced on the syllabus. Please check your schedule now to see that there are no conflicts. I do not give make-up tests. If you miss a test without telling me beforehand, you will receive a zero. You will be expected to show your work and justify your answers. You should bring a calculator to the exams. Each test is worth 1/8 of your grade.

The Final Exam is comprehensive and is worth the remaining 3/8 of your grade.