Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

Bayes at Microsoft Research

February 27, 2012

Tracing the origins of spam filters back to the U-boat battles of World War II. Hearing about Stanford's lack of interest in probabilities in the late 1980s. And an intriguing question: Was Bill Gates a Bayesian?

research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=159395

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Selected Works

Nonfiction

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.

The non-mathematical story of the fight over Bayes' rule and its ultimate triumph.

"A rollicking tale of the triumph of a powerful mathematical tool."

—Nature

"If you are not thinking like a Bayesian, perhaps you should be." John Allen Paulos, New York Times Book Review.
Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review.

Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles and Momentous Discoveries

Biographies of 15 women scientists who won a Nobel Prize—or came very close.

“Spellbinding, compelling.”

—The Science Teacher

Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World

Biographies of nine chemists whose discoveries solved serious social and technological problems.

“A compelling read… fascinating.”

—Nature