Classic Problems of Probability (Paperback)

Preface 3

Problem 1. Cardano and Games of Chance (1564) 8

Problem 2. Gailieo and a Discovery Concerning Dice (1620) 15

Problem 3. The Chevalier de Méré Problem I: The Problem of Dice (1654) 17

Problem 4. The Chevalier de   Méré Problem II: The Problem of Points (1654) 22

Problem 5. Huygens and the Gambler’s Ruin (1657) 39

Problem 6. The Pepys-Newton Connection (1693) 47

Problem 7. Rencontres with Montmort (1708) 50

Problem 8. Jacob Bernoulli and his Golden Theorem (1713) 54

Problem 9. De Moivre’s Problem (1730) 71

Problem 10. De Moivre, Gauss, and the Normal Curve (1730, 1809) 79

Problem 11. Daniel Bernoulli and the St Petersburg Problem (1738) 94

Problem 12. D’Alembert and the “Croix ou Pile” Article (1754) 102

Problem 13. D’Alembert and the Gambler’s Fallacy (1761) 105

Problem 14. Bayes, Laplace, and Philosophies of Probability (1764, 1774) 109

Problem 15. Leibniz’s Error (1768) 132

Problem 16. The Buffon Needle Problem (1777) 134

Problem 17. Bertrand’s Ballot Problem (1887) 143

Problem 18. Bertrand’s Strange Three Boxes (1889) 147

Problem 19. Bertrand’s Chords (1889) 151

Problem 20. Three Coins and a Puzzle from Galton (1894) 156

Problem 21. Lewis Carroll’s Pillow Problem No. 72 (1894) 157

Problem 22. Borel and A Different Kind of Normality (1909) 161

Problem 23. Borel’s Paradox and Kolmogorov’s Axioms (1909, 1933) 165

Problem 24. Of Borel, Monkeys, and the New Creationism (1913) 173

Problem 25. Kraitchik’s Neckties and Newcomb’s Problem (1930, 1960)

Problem 26. Fisher and the lady Tasting Tea (1935) 188

Problem 27. Benford and the Peculiar Behavior of the First Significant Digit (1938) 195

Problem 28. Coinciding Birthdays (1939) 200

Problem 29. Lévy and the Arc Sine Law (1939) 206

Problem 30. Simpson’s Paradox (1951) 210

Problem 31. Gamow, Stern, and Elevators (1958) 215

Problem 32. Monty-Hall, Cars, and Goats (1975) 218

Problem 33. Parrondo’s Perplexing Paradox (1996) 224

Bibliography 230

Photo Credits 254