Can anyone tell me whether Jaynes’ book can be read and understood without any particular formal training? I do know the basic concepts of probability, and I usually score around the 85th percentile on math tests… And how hard/time-consuming exactly will the book be? I am employed in a somewhat high pressure job on a full time basis...
Try it—the first three chapters are available online here. The first one is discursive and easy; the math of the second chapter is among of most difficult in the book and can be safely skimmed; if you can follow the third chapter (which is the first one to present extensive probability calculations per se) and you understand probability densities for continuous random variables then you’ll be able to understand the rest of the book without formal training.
Can anyone tell me whether Jaynes’ book can be read and understood without any particular formal training? I do know the basic concepts of probability, and I usually score around the 85th percentile on math tests… And how hard/time-consuming exactly will the book be? I am employed in a somewhat high pressure job on a full time basis...
Try it—the first three chapters are available online here. The first one is discursive and easy; the math of the second chapter is among of most difficult in the book and can be safely skimmed; if you can follow the third chapter (which is the first one to present extensive probability calculations per se) and you understand probability densities for continuous random variables then you’ll be able to understand the rest of the book without formal training.
Thanks!