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

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



Download 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 Keith Devlin ebook pdf
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Page: 202
ISBN: 0465009107, 9780465009107

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Prior to the development of statistics in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, even rationalists were convinced that no human could speculate on the future. Devlin, NPR's "Math Guy" and the author of numerous books on the subject, shows us how that belief was transformed through the 1654 correspondence between mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat. Devlin uses the critical letter from Pascal to Fermat in which he discusses "the problem of points"-that is, how to determine the probable outcome of a game of chance-as a framework for a history of probability theory and risk management, fields which now dominate our social, political and financial lives. Devlin interweaves the specific issues discussed in that famous letter with the work of other mathematicians, like the London businessman John Graunt, whose ingenious, groundbreaking work analyzing London parish death records helped predict a breakout of bubonic plague and essentially founded the science of epidemiology. Devlin also introduces the remarkable Bernoulli family, eight of whom were distinguished mathematicians, and the Reverend Thomas Bayes, whose formula has enabled the calculation of risk in a variety of fields. This informative book is a lively, quick read for anyone who wonders about the science of predicting what's next and how deeply it affects our lives. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

PublishersWeekly.com “This informative book is a lively, quick read for anyone who wonders about the science of predicting what’s next and how deeply it affects our lives.”

New Scientist “This breezy book shows why probability theory, though not Pascal and Fermat’s last, was undoubtedly their most important theorem.”  

Washington Times “Mr. Devlin shares the great mathematicians’ correspondence, walks readers through critical mathematical problems and contextualizes it all in a lively narrative. The book is a refreshing testimony to the rewards of thinking rationally about how future events might unfold.... [A] rewarding read…. Mr. Devlin does a remarkable job of showing just how much derived from the history-changing Pascal-Fermat correspondence.”  

MAA Online “This book is not only about mathematics. It is also a tale of how mathematics, and science in general, is really done…. Very well written and accessible to everyone…. This is highly recommended reading…. [It] should find a place in every mathematician’s library.”  

Booklist “Devlin depicts Fermat as leading Pascal toward correct understanding of probability’s underlying logic, through quotation of the entire letter and a characteristically clear explanation of the logic of probability with which Pascal struggled. A rewarding account for math buffs.”  

David Berlinski, author of The Devil’s Delusion and A Tour of the Calculus “I’ve been a faithful reader of Keith Devlin’s work for a long time, and this is the best thing I’ve seen from his pen. It combines a lightness of touch, an understanding of the sources, an absence of any sort of intrusive self, and a sensitive and error-free presentation of the mathematics.”  

William Dunham, author of The Calculus Gallery and Journey Through Genius “Keith Devlin’s delightful little book traces the origins of probability theory and introduces the mathematicians—from Pascal and Fermat to Bernoulli and de Moivre—who created it.”  

Amir Aczel, author of Fermat’s Last Theorem and Chance “In this enchanting romp through the early history of probability theory, Devlin does a great job explaining the role probability plays in modern life, and shows how probabilistic reasoning, which we almost take for granted today, was a product of the minds of brilliant mathematicians almost four centuries ago.”

Entertainment Weekly“Surprisingly engaging.”

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



MORE EBOOKS:
Our Man in Havana e book free download
Download The Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 1) pdf
Download Philosopher-Kings: The Argument of Plato's Republic pdf
100 Cases in Clinical Ethics and Law pdf free download
Download The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern ebook







Tags: The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern ebook pdf epub djvu mobi rar
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern pdf epub djvu free download
Download The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern free ebook pdf epub
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern read online free book
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern cheap ebook for kindle and nook
Keith Devlin ebooks and audio books
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern download pdf epub rar rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent depositfiles scribd