When a scientist is really great we forget his name and use it as an ordinary technical term. Such as when we say the hamming distance between two character strings. Yes, this is the same R. W. Hamming, author of this beautiful book. I really wish I had this treasure back then, when I was taking my probability course at the university (around 1996). I admired Hamming's approach to subjects as an engineer. I say as an engineer, because the book can seem a little bit strange to a mathematician who expects axioms and then theorem proofs. It does have some proofs but only where author thinks they are obligatory. He presents many intricate concepts with very critical and valuable insights and concentrate on the methods to use various problems in probability. Not only how to solve it but why to solve it that way. The author is also very careful to draw attention to the pitfalls that one may encounter in this strange and beautiful journey, which makes the book only more valuable. For the statisticians: This is not a statistics book but one book that you owe yourself to have on your bookshelf. ( )