Good books to learn probability distributions

Question

[GabrielMontenegro]

What books would you recommend for someone with a bio and not maths background to learn about probability distributions?

I am looking for something that could be easily related to bioinformatics as I work in Human Population Genetics.

Any (free) online courses or good web tutorials are very welcome as well!

Thank you!

[Michael]

Hello JM88!

We believe that this post does not fit the main topic of this site.

No apparently connected to bioinformatics. You could have a look at http://stats.stackexchange.com

For this reason we have closed your question. This allows us to keep the site focused on the topics that the community can help with.

If you disagree please tell us why in a reply below, we'll be happy to talk about it.

Cheers!

[GabrielMontenegro]

But I am asking this here because my background is on biology and not maths. I wanted recommendations for books aimed at people with similar background as me. Why is this not a valid question?

[Michael]

Sorry, but still this does not make it a bioinformatics question, does it? It is your duty to write the question in a way that it conveys its relation to bioinformatics or comp bio. Using the word bioinformatics or comp biology in the question could be a start.

[GabrielMontenegro]

OK, I will change it accordingly! Thanks :)

Answer 1

[russhh]

Since you're in the UK, you should check [your favourite bay for second hand things] for the OU courses M248 and subsequently, M343. These will give you a pretty broad intro to probability models and a little bit of statistics (from the former). The latter might get a bit mathematical for you (at the moment). Since you're posting on here, you might be best served by getting Ewens and Grant

[GabrielMontenegro]

WOW! This is exactly what I needed!

[russhh]

You could also look into the Handbook of Biological Statistics (although it's basically a rewrite of Biometry by Rohlf and Sokal - which I assume you've already read......; and it has a very light touch on probability). If JM88 finds some good resources, I urge him/her to write a biostars resource on probability teaching resources that are available online; for example, the Mathematical Biostatistics Bootcamp is a good start if you've got calculus.

[GabrielMontenegro]

Thank you! My question was closed, but if I get enough answers I could do that adding some resources I have found by myself.

Answer 2

[WouterDeCoster]

Not a book, but I think this is an interesting post: http://blog.cloudera.com/blog/2015/12/common-probability-distributions-the-data-scientists-crib-sheet/

[GabrielMontenegro]

That's very useful! Internet courses/tutorials are very welcome as well! Going to add this to my post. Thanks!