Think Bayes
Think Bayes by Allen Downeyby Allen Downey
Ranked 2 of 5 probability textbooks by recommenders
People recommend it as a good starting point for Bayesian statistics, and some readers enjoyed it as part of the Think series of books.
People recommend it as a good starting point for Bayesian statistics, and some readers enjoyed it as part of the Think series of books.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 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
Good starting point for basics
“for the very basics there is Downey's Think Bayes”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?” Enjoyed as part of Think series
“Really enjoyed Think DSP, Think Complexity, Think Bayes, etc.”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Think Linear Algebra” Read and thought it was great
“I read Think Bayes and thought it was great.”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Think Linear Algebra” Seems to have more depth
“seems to have a little more depth”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “Bayesian statistics for confused data scientists”
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 DowneyThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Probability Theory: The Logic of Scienceby Jaynes | 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 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“for the very basics there is Downey's Think Bayes”
“Really enjoyed Think DSP, Think Complexity, Think Bayes, etc.”
“I read Think Bayes and thought it was great.”
“seems to have a little more depth”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.