Probability Theory: The Logic of Science
Probability Theory: The Logic of Science by Jaynesby Jaynes
Shares rank 3 of 5 probability textbooks by recommenders
People recommend it for making probability and statistics finally make sense, with deeply significant foundations. The beginning parts are seen as not practically useful.
People recommend it for making probability and statistics finally make sense, with deeply significant foundations. The beginning parts are seen as not practically useful.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Makes statistics and probability make sense
“the book that made statistics and probability theory finally make sense to me”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” Deeply significant foundational content
“the beginning parts of Jaynes Probability Theory were not useful practically but deeply significant”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “Mathematics of Data Science”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Beginning parts not practically useful
“the beginning parts of Jaynes Probability Theory were not useful practically but deeply significant”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “Mathematics of Data Science”
Other probability textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other probability textbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistical Rethinkingby Richard McElreath | 10 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Think Bayesby Allen Downey | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Probability Theory: The Logic of Scienceby JaynesThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Elements of Statistical Learningby Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Introduction to Probabilityby Blitzstein and Hwang | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the beginning parts of Jaynes Probability Theory were not useful practically but deeply significant”
“read probability theory by Jaynes”
“the book that made statistics and probability theory finally make sense to me”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.