Who's #1?: The Science of Rating and Ranking - Hardcover

Langville, Amy N.; Meyer, Carl D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691154228 ISBN 13: 9780691154220

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2012

Synopsis

A website's ranking on Google can spell the difference between success and failure for a new business. NCAA football ratings determine which schools get to play for the big money in postseason bowl games. Product ratings influence everything from the clothes we wear to the movies we select on Netflix. Ratings and rankings are everywhere, but how exactly do they work? Who's #1? offers an engaging and accessible account of how scientific rating and ranking methods are created and applied to a variety of uses.

Amy Langville and Carl Meyer provide the first comprehensive overview of the mathematical algorithms and methods used to rate and rank sports teams, political candidates, products, Web pages, and more. In a series of interesting asides, Langville and Meyer provide fascinating insights into the ingenious contributions of many of the field's pioneers. They survey and compare the different methods employed today, showing why their strengths and weaknesses depend on the underlying goal, and explaining why and when a given method should be considered. Langville and Meyer also describe what can and can't be expected from the most widely used systems.

The science of rating and ranking touches virtually every facet of our lives, and now you don't need to be an expert to understand how it really works. Who's #1? is the definitive introduction to the subject. It features easy-to-understand examples and interesting trivia and historical facts, and much of the required mathematics is included.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"Who's #1? is an excellent survey of the fundamental ideas behind mathematical rating systems. Once a realm of sports enthusiasts, ranking things is becoming a vital tool in many information-age applications. Langville and Meyer compare and contrast a variety of models, explaining the mathematical foundations and motivation. Readers of this book will be inspired to further explore this exciting field."--Kenneth Massey, Massey Ratings

"Langville and Meyer provide a rigorous yet lighthearted tour through the landscape of ratings methodologies. This is an enjoyable read that looks at ratings through the lens of sports, but also touches on how ratings affect our everyday lives through movies, Web search, online shopping, and other applications."--Chris Volinsky, member of the winning Netflix Prize team

"Who's #1? provides a much-needed synthesis of the methods used for ranking and rating things like sports teams, movies, politicians, and more. There is a ton of interest in this topic, and readers now have one place to look for a comprehensive treatment of the different approaches."--Wayne L. Winston, author of Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football

"This highly accessible book gives readers a comprehensive account of the different mathematical ranking techniques across many different disciplines, and will appeal to everyone from researchers to sports statistics junkies."--Sep Kamvar, author of Numerical Algorithms for Personalized Search in Self-organizing Information Networks

About the Author:

Amy N. Langville is associate professor of mathematics at the College of Charleston. Carl D. Meyer is professor of mathematics at North Carolina State University. They are the authors of Google's PageRank and Beyond: The Science of Search Engine Rankings (Princeton).

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0691154228
• ISBN 13: 9780691154220
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272