THE THEORY THAT WOULD NOT DIE How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy

Math doesn’t usually make for an exciting story, but narrator Laural Merlington finds some dramatic notes in the fortunes of the Reverend Thomas Bayes's law. The amateur mathematician's formula for dealing with new information has helped with spam filters and searches for missing H-bombs, along with creating other applications that have affected criminal courts and the military. The author concentrates more on the theory's uses and the arguments surrounding it than on the math itself. This approach creates a story rather than a dry treatise, and Merlington delivers it with energy and enthusiasm. The theory's long history shows the practical uses of the concept, even as it makes an entertaining yarn. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2012]