This new and updated textbook is an excellent way to introduce probability and information theory to students new to mathematics, computer science, engineering, statistics, economics, or business studies. Only requiring knowledge of basic calculus, it begins by building a clear and systematic foundation to probability and information. Classic topics covered include discrete and continuous random variables, entropy and mutual information, maximum entropy methods, the central limit theorem and the coding and transmission of information. Newly covered for this edition is modern material on Markov chains and their entropy. Examples and exercises are included to illustrate how to use the theory in a wide range of applications, with detailed solutions to most exercises available online for instructors.

Presents a survey of the history and evolution of the branch of mathematics that focuses on probability and statistics, including useful applications and notable mathematicians in this area.

Probability theory

An integrated package of powerful probabilistic tools and key applications in modern mathematical data science.

From the reviews: "This book nicely complements the existing literature on information and coding theory by concentrating on arbitrary nonstationary and/or nonergodic sources and channels with arbitrarily large alphabets. Even with such generality the authors have managed to successfully reach a highly unconventional but very fertile exposition rendering new insights into many problems." -- MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS