false 4443547 1 Before the mid-seventeenth century, scholars generally agreed that it was impossible to predict something by calculating mathematical outcomes. One simply could not put a numerical value on the likelihood that a particular event would occur. Even the outcome of something as simple as a dice roll or the likelihood of showers instead of sunshine was thought to lie in the realm of pure, unknowable chance. <P>The issue remained intractable until Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat in 1654, outlining a solution to the &#8220;unfinished game&#8221; problem: how do you divide the pot when players are forced to end a game of dice before someone has won? The idea turned out to be far more seminal than Pascal realized. From it, the two men developed the method known today as probability theory. <P>In <I>The Unfinished Game</I>, mathematician and NPR commentator Keith Devlin tells the story of this correspondence and its remarkable impact on the modern world: from insurance rates, to housing and job markets, to the safety of cars and planes, calculating probabilities allowed people, for the first time, to think rationally about how future events might unfold. 4491758 22 9 2008 The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern total:20|5:3|4:6|3:6|2:4|1:1| 20 66 49 11 2 1 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 12:35:25 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 14:46:20 -0800 2009
In the case of _The Unfinished Game_, Keith Devlin's little riff on the 17th century exchange between Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat and its role in the histor...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jan 03 11:36:50 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 04 20:23:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 15 17:45:42 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 18:04:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jun 16 10:59:24 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 11:04:59 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 10:44:08 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 22:01:03 -0800 2009
I liked that it describes the development of probability theory with intuitive explanations. I found my interest renewed in the mathematical topics.
]]> 1 0 false false Wed Jul 15 13:48:05 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 13:49:37 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Mar 09 20:38:37 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 20:41:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jan 28 10:10:31 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 10:11:19 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 18:45:56 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 19:10:25 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jan 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Oct 26 10:26:23 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 06 12:01:44 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 10:46:57 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 10:47:41 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 05 12:36:44 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 12:37:19 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 28 08:09:12 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 08:09:12 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Fri Oct 23 20:31:43 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 20:31:43 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 05 13:07:06 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 13:07:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 04 13:57:05 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 13:57:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Sep 02 15:30:51 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 15:31:01 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Aug 30 20:37:25 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 20:37:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 19 08:57:22 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 08:57:22 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 19:28:03 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 17:03:42 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=4443547