Mostly Harmless StatisticsXYZ Homework Edition

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Chapter 4: Probability

One story about how probability theory was developed is that a gambler wanted to know when to bet more and when to bet less. He talked to a couple of friends of his that happened to be mathematicians. Their names were Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal. Since then many other mathematicians have worked to develop probability theory.

French postage stamp honoring Pierre de Fermat, 1601 to 1665, with his portrait, the equation x^n + y^n = z^n, and a note in French that it has no solution for integers n greater than 2; denominations 4.50 F and 0.69 euro.
Figure 1\PageIndex{1}: Fermat and Pascal
French postage stamp honoring Pierre de Fermat, 1601 to 1665, with his portrait, the equation x^n + y^n = z^n, and a note in French that it has no solution for integers n greater than 2; denominations 4.50 F and 0.69 euro.
Monaco postage stamp honoring Blaise Pascal, marked 1623 Monaco 1973, with a portrait of Pascal in purple tones, a crest at the upper right, and a face value of 0.50.

Adapted from Mostly Harmless Statistics by Rachel Webb (Portland State University, https://mostlyharmlessstat.wixsite.com/webpage), © Rachel Webb, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made. License: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

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