ABSTRACT
The approach to probability and statistics used is the pragmatic one that probability and statistics are methods of operating in the presence of incomplete knowledge. The most common example is tossing a coin. It will land heads or tails, but the relative frequency is unknown. The two events are often assumed equally likely, but a skilled coin tosser may be able to get heads almost all of the time. Riemann integration and continuous density functions are sufficient for a considerable amount of applied probability. If a system consists of individual components, it is natural to attempt to derive the failure characteristics of the system from the characteristics of the components and the system structure. The approach is to construct a function that gives the probability of system failure in terms of component failure and the system structure.
