Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 3 sessions / week, 1 hour / session
Prerequisite
Course Description
This course introduces students to probability and random variables. Topics include distribution functions, binomial, geometric, hypergeometric, and Poisson distributions. The other topics covered are uniform, exponential, normal, gamma and beta distributions; conditional probability; Bayes theorem; joint distributions; Chebyshev inequality; law of large numbers; and central limit theorem.
Course Numbering
Until spring 2015, the course now called 18.600 was called 18.440. It was renamed as part of a departmental effort to make course labels more logical. The current label conveys that 18.600 is a foundational class and a starting point for the 18.6xx series.
Textbook
Required
Ross, Sheldon. A First Course in Probability. 8th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. ISBN: 9780136033134.
A Free and Fun-to-Read Book
Introduction to Probability (PDF - 3.1MB) by Charles Grinstead and J. Laurie Snell.
Problem Sets
There will be 10 problem sets assigned throughout the semester, but there will be no problem sets in the weeks that have exams.
Exams
There will be two midterm exams, as well as a final exam for the course.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| 10 Problem Sets | 20% |
| 2 Midterm Exams | 40% |
| 1 Final Exam | 40% |