# Think Bayes by Allen Downey

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Think Bayes by Allen Downey and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a good starting point for Bayesian statistics, and some readers enjoyed it as part of the Think series of books.

## Why people recommend it

- Good starting point for basics (1 comments): "for the very basics there is Downey's Think Bayes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49595098))
- Enjoyed as part of Think series (1 comments): "Really enjoyed Think DSP, Think Complexity, Think Bayes, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48090248))
- Read and thought it was great (1 comments): "I read Think Bayes and thought it was great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48088425))
- Seems to have more depth (1 comments): "seems to have a little more depth" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47477162))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Statistical Rethinking by Richard McElreath](https://hackerapproved.com/p/statistical-rethinking.md): 10 recommend
- [Probability Theory: The Logic of Science by Jaynes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/probability-theory-the-logic-of-science.md): 3 recommend
- [The Elements of Statistical Learning by Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/elements-of-statistical-learning.md): 3 recommend
- [Introduction to Probability by Blitzstein and Hwang](https://hackerapproved.com/p/introduction-to-probability.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/149208946X?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781492089469) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Think Bayes by Allen Downey", https://hackerapproved.com/p/think-bayes/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).