Definition:Probability Theory/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Probability Theory
The discipline of probability theory is suggested by some sources to be a creation shared between Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal.
Their intent was to describe certain games of chance and to calculate various probabilities.
They developed the fundamental principles in a series of letters in the year $1654$.
The field was developed significantly by Jacob Bernoulli, the results of his research appearing in his posthumous Ars Conjectandi of $1713$.
Modern probability theory is more than just calculating the chance of getting $m$ heads while tossing $n$ coins.
It is used to study problems in fields as diverse as economics, genetics, sociology, astronomy and physics.
Sources
- 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{IV}$: The Prince of Amateurs
- 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{V}$: "Greatness and Misery of Man"
- 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{VIII}$: Nature or Nurture?
- 1965: A.M. Arthurs: Probability Theory ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $2$: Probability and Discrete Sample Spaces: $2.1$ Introduction