Probability and Statistics

1

Probability

1.1 Introduction

The beginning of probability theory dates back to the mid-seventeenth century when Pascal¹ and Fermat² independently found solution to a ­problem faced by a gambler, though the first book on the subject Book on Games of Chance written by Cardan³ was published in 1663. Outstanding contributions to probability theory were made by Huygens,⁴ Bernoulli,⁵ Demoivre,⁶ Laplace,⁷ Gauss,⁸ Chebyshev,⁹ Markov,¹⁰ and Kolmogorov¹¹—the last being credited with the development of the axiomatic theory of ­probability.

¹Pascal, Blaise (1623–62) is a French philosopher, mathematician, great geometer, probabilist, combinotorist and physicst. He and Fermat independently founded probability theory.

²Fermat, Pierre de (1601–65) is ...