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

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

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. The issue remained intractable until Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat in 1654, outlining a solution to the “unfinished game€ 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. In The Unfinished Game, mathematician and NPR commentator Keith Devlin tells the story of this correspondence and its remarkable impact on the modern world: from insurance rates, to housi
ASIN: 0465009107
VSKU: PKV.0465009107.VG
Condition: Very Good
Author/Artist:Devlin, Keith
Binding: Hardcover
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Excellent condition with just a hint of character. Minor signs of love, but the pages are still clean and ready for adventure.
$2.52
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern—
$2.52

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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. The issue remained intractable until Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat in 1654, outlining a solution to the “unfinished game€ 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. In The Unfinished Game, mathematician and NPR commentator Keith Devlin tells the story of this correspondence and its remarkable impact on the modern world: from insurance rates, to housi
ASIN: 0465009107
VSKU: PKV.0465009107.VG
Condition: Very Good
Author/Artist:Devlin, Keith
Binding: Hardcover
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Excellent condition with just a hint of character. Minor signs of love, but the pages are still clean and ready for adventure.
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern | Aspen Book Co