Probability, risk, uncertainty and decisions all are abstract concepts. In CV8311 (Risk and Reliability for Engineers), our study will have to emphasize on engineering applications. However, if you are interested in risk and decision in general, I give below a list of books that you may find useful and helpful to maintain social distancing during this difficult year. The list are given in my order of likeness.
- Bernstein P L (1996). Against the gods: the remarkable story of risk. Wiley. Ah, how mighty and inspiring is the book title, and yet we human sapiens still have to collaborate with the Gods. I read this book from beginning to end each time I taught CV8311 or equivalent.
- Khaneman D (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Doubleday Canada. Written by a Nobel prize winner, this book tells a lot about the other side of probability, uncertainty, risk and decisions.
- Savage S L (2009). The flaw of averages. Wiley. As I mentioned in Lecture 1 of CV8311, the whole course can be summarized by the Jessen’s inequality, a mathematical way of explaining the flaw of averages.
- Taleb N N (2018). Skin in the game. Random House. Taleb is a well-known writer in risk and uncertainty. His incerto (greek for ‘uncertainty’) collection deserves serious reading (and ‘slow thinking’!). This book is one of the collection. Another famous one in the collection is of course Black Swan. Taleb recently published a new book titled Statistical consequences of fat tail, which I just ordered from Amazon.
Enjoy reading!