The Unfinished Game Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern

by Devlin, Keith

• ISBN13: 9780465018963
• ISBN10: 0465018963
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-23
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

In the early seventeenth century, the outcome of something as simple as a dice roll was consigned to the realm of unknowable chance. Mathematicians largely agreed that it was impossible to predict the probability of an occurrence. Then, in 1654, Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat explaining that he had discovered how to calculate risk. The two collaborated to develop what is now known as probability theorya concept that allows us to think rationally about decisions and events.InThe Unfinished Game, Keith Devlin masterfully chronicles Pascal and Fermat's mathematical breakthrough, connecting a centuries-old discovery with its remarkable impact on the modern world.

Author Biography

Keith Devlin is a Senior Researcher and Executive Director at Stanford’s Center for the Study of Language and Information, a Consulting Professor in the Department of Mathematics, and a co-founder of the Stanford Media X research network. National Public Radio’s “Math Guy,” he is the author of over twenty-five books. He lives in Stanford, California.

Table of Contents

Note to the Reader	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Monday, August 24, 1654	p. 1
A Problem Worthy of Great Minds	p. 13
On the Shoulders of a Giant	p. 31
A Man of Slight Build	p. 49
The Great Amateur	p. 65
Terrible Confusions	p. 73
Out of the Gaming Room	p. 85
Into the Everyday World	p. 105
The Chance of Your Life	p. 117
The Measure of Our Ignorance	p. 145
The Key Letter from Pascal to Fermat	p. 171
Index	p. 183
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