This textbook for first year graduate courses (usually called Stochastic Processes, Applied Probability, or Stochastic Modeling) is subtitled, The random world of Happy Harry, and is filled with examples starring Happy Harry, a character whose adventures provide quick illustrations of how theory leads to techniques for calculating numbers. It begins: "Welcome to the random world of Happy Harry famed restaurateur, happy hour host, community figure, former semi-pro basketball player, occasional software engineer, . . . nemesis of the street gang called the Mutant Creepazoids . . . ." Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.