The Science of Conjecture: Evidence and Probability before Pascal

Franklin, James

ISBN 10: 0801871093 / ISBN 13: 9780801871092

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Science of Conjecture: Evidence and Probability before Pascal
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0801871093
• ISBN 13: 9780801871092
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

How did we make reliable predictions before Pascal and Fermat's discovery of the mathematics of probability in 1654? What methods in law, science, commerce, philosophy, and logic helped us to get at the truth in cases where certainty was not attainable? In The Science of Conjecture, James Franklin examines how judges, witch inquisitors, and juries evaluated evidence; how scientists weighed reasons for and against scientific theories; and how merchants counted shipwrecks to determine insurance rates.

The Science of Conjecture provides a history of rational methods of dealing with uncertainty and explores the coming to consciousness of the human understanding of risk.

About the Author

James Franklin is a professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New South Wales.