Osnovaniya matematicheskoi teorii veroyatnostei ("Principles of the Mathematical Theory of Probability").

BUNYAKOVSKII, Viktor Yakovlevich.

Published by St Petersburg: Imperatorskaya Akademiya Nauk, 1846

About this Item

First edition of this rare and pioneering work on the theory of probability, the magnum opus of the great mathematician Bunyakovskii (1804-1889), who developed Russian probabilistic terms still in use today. We locate only six copies in institutions (Columbia, NYPL, Illinois, Waterloo, Georgia Tech, and Polish Research Libraries). Bunyakovskii studied mathematics in Paris, where he attended the lectures of Laplace, before completing his doctoral work under Cauchy. On his return to Russia, he demonstrated how probabilistic theory could be applied in real-world situations, examining, among other topics, the navy's pension fund and the statistical likelihood of deaths in army battles. He subsequently became the first head of the Department of Probability at the University of St Petersburg. In addition to being the author's most significant work on probability, Principles blends theory with applied practice, with many hypothetical case studies examining topics such as the veracity of witnesses to a crime, elections, and solutions to the so-called "Petersburg puzzle" using the Bernoulli distribution and the Poisson distribution. Folio (275 x 205 mm). With engraved plate of diagrams at end, 2 tables in the text, and errata. Contemporary dark blue quarter sheep, spine lettered in blind, contemporary library spine label, green and black marbled paper sides, green cloth corners. Lacking front free endpaper (stub visible). Old ink inscription on half-title; library shelf number in ink on front pastedown. Neatly refurbished, corners bumped and creased, boards a bit scuffed and stripped in places (also of edges), front pastedown skinned at lower half, half-title neatly reattached and with upper corner removed, first 11 leaves with faint damp mark to gutter, title and errata with splash stains. A very good copy of a fragile publication.

Seller Inventory # 172612

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Osnovaniya matematicheskoi teorii veroyatnostei ("Principles of the Mathematical Theory of Probability").
• Publisher: St Petersburg: Imperatorskaya Akademiya Nauk, 1846
• Edition: 1st Edition