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A History of the Mathematical Theory of Probability: From the Time of Pascal to That of Laplace
Excerpt from A History of the Mathematical Theory of Probability
De Moivre's Doctrine of Chances formed a treatise on the subject, full, clear and accurate; and it maintained its place as a standard work, at least in England, almost down to our own day.
The tenth Chapter gives an account of some miscellaneous investigations between the years 1700 and 1750. These investigations are due to Nicolas Bernoulli, Arbuthnot, Browne, Mairan, Nicole, Buffon, Ham, Thomas Simpson and John Bernoulli.
The eleventh Chapter relates to Daniel Bernoulli, containing an account of a series of memoirs published chiefly in the volumes of the Academy of Petersburg; the memoirs are remarkable for boldness and originality, the first of them contains the celebrated theory of Moral Expectation.
The twelfth Chapter relates to Euler; it gives an account of his memoirs, which relate principally to certain games of chance.
The thirteenth Chapter relates to D'Alembert; it gives a full account of the objections which ho urged against some of the fundamental principles of the subject, and of his controversy with Daniel Bernoulli on the mathematical investigation of the gain to human life which would arise from the extirpation of one of the most fatal diseases to which the human race is liable.
The fourteenth Chapter relates to Bayes; it explains the method by which he demonstrated his famous theorem, which may be said to have been the origin of that part of the subject which relates to the probabilities of causes as inferred from observed effects.
The fifteenth Chapter is devoted to Lagrange; he contributed to the subject a valuable memoir on the theory of the errors of observations, and demonstrations of the results enunciated by De Moivre respecting the Duration of Play.
The sixteenth Chapter contains notices of miscellaneous investigations between the years 1750 and 1780. This Chapter brings before us Kaostner, Clark, Mallet, John Bernoulli, Beguelin, Micholl, Lambert, Buffon, Fuss, and some others. The memoir of Micholl is remarkable; it contains the famous argument for the existence of design drawn from the fact of the closeness of certain stars, like the Pleiades.
The seventeenth Chapter relates to Cordorcet, who published a large book and a long memoir upon the Theory of Probability.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
De Moivre's Doctrine of Chances formed a treatise on the subject, full, clear and accurate; and it maintained its place as a standard work, at least in England, almost down to our own day.
The tenth Chapter gives an account of some miscellaneous investigations between the years 1700 and 1750. These investigations are due to Nicolas Bernoulli, Arbuthnot, Browne, Mairan, Nicole, Buffon, Ham, Thomas Simpson and John Bernoulli.
The eleventh Chapter relates to Daniel Bernoulli, containing an account of a series of memoirs published chiefly in the volumes of the Academy of Petersburg; the memoirs are remarkable for boldness and originality, the first of them contains the celebrated theory of Moral Expectation.
The twelfth Chapter relates to Euler; it gives an account of his memoirs, which relate principally to certain games of chance.
The thirteenth Chapter relates to D'Alembert; it gives a full account of the objections which ho urged against some of the fundamental principles of the subject, and of his controversy with Daniel Bernoulli on the mathematical investigation of the gain to human life which would arise from the extirpation of one of the most fatal diseases to which the human race is liable.
The fourteenth Chapter relates to Bayes; it explains the method by which he demonstrated his famous theorem, which may be said to have been the origin of that part of the subject which relates to the probabilities of causes as inferred from observed effects.
The fifteenth Chapter is devoted to Lagrange; he contributed to the subject a valuable memoir on the theory of the errors of observations, and demonstrations of the results enunciated by De Moivre respecting the Duration of Play.
The sixteenth Chapter contains notices of miscellaneous investigations between the years 1750 and 1780. This Chapter brings before us Kaostner, Clark, Mallet, John Bernoulli, Beguelin, Micholl, Lambert, Buffon, Fuss, and some others. The memoir of Micholl is remarkable; it contains the famous argument for the existence of design drawn from the fact of the closeness of certain stars, like the Pleiades.
The seventeenth Chapter relates to Cordorcet, who published a large book and a long memoir upon the Theory of Probability.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
644 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1949
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About the author
Isaac Todhunter
201 books3 followersEnglish mathematician known for his writings on the history of mathematics.
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March 3, 2015
This is the most authoritive 19th century history of the development of modern probability theory. Modern readers will not find it easy to read. By modern standards, the prose is dense. The mathematical notation is somewhat antiquated. But for those who are interested in where modern probability came from, it is indispensible. The book was reprinted a few years ago in a bulky paperback edition. There are also electronic, PDF, editions on the web. Todhunter was a very interesting chronicler of the development of mathematical ideas. He also wrote on the history of the Calculus.
Displaying 1 of 1 review