Probability and Risk Analysis: An Introduction for Engineers

The purpose of this book is to present concepts in a statistical treatment of risks. Such knowledge facilitates the understanding of the in?uence of random phenomena and gives a deeper knowledge of the possibilities o?ered by and algorithms found in certain software packages. Since Bayesian methods are frequently used in this ?eld, a reasonable proportion of the presentation is devoted to such techniques. The text is written with student in mind – a student who has studied - ementary undergraduate courses in engineering mathematics, may be incl- ing a minor course in statistics. Even though we use a style of presentation traditionally found in the math literature (including descriptions like de- itions, examples, etc.), emphasis is put on the understanding of the theory and methods presented; hence reasoning of an informal character is frequent. With respect to the contents (and its presentation), the idea has not been to write another textbook on elementary probability and statistics ― there are plenty of such books ― but to focus on applications within the ?eld of risk and safety analysis. Each chapter ends with a section on exercises; short solutions are given in appendix. Especially in the ?rst chapters, some exercises merely check basic concepts introduced, with no clearly attached application indicated. However, among the collection of exercises as a whole, the ambition has been to present problems of an applied character and to a great extent real data sets have been used when constructing the problems.

This book presents notions and ideas from the foundations of a statistical treatment of risks. Bayesian methods are frequently used in that area, hence a reasonable proportion of the presentation is devoted to such approaches. Modern statistical tools, namely Poisson regression, analysis of deviance, extreme-value theory and threshold methods are also used to identify and solve practical problems. The knowledge of such tools facilitates the understanding of the role of probability in risk analysis and proper use of outputs given by software packages.

The book is written with a student in mind who has studied elementary undergraduate courses in engineering mathematics, perhaps including an introductory course in statistics. The text emphasizes an understanding of the theory and methods presented. Hence, comments are given verbally and an intuitive reasoning is frequent. This is not just another new textbook on elementary probability and statistics, but focuses strongly on applications within the field of risk and safety analysis.