Book excerpt: Written by international award-winning probability expert Henk Tijms, Basic Probability: What Every Math Student Should Know presents the essentials of elementary probability. The book is primarily written for high school and college students learning about probability for the first time. In a highly accessible way, a modern treatment of the subject is given with emphasis on conditional probability and Bayesian probability, on striking applications of the Poisson distribution, and on the interface between probability and computer simulation. In modern society, it is important to be able to critically evaluate statements of a probabilistic nature presented in the media in order to make informed judgments. A basic knowledge of probability theory is indispensable to logical thinking and statistical literacy. The book provides this knowledge and illustrates it with numerous everyday situations.