Probability. A(very) brief histo Ionut flo What is Probability? In essence Mathematical modeling of random events and phenomena. It is fundamentally different from modeling deterministic events and functions, which constitutes the traditional study of Mathemat- However, the study of probability uses concepts and notions taken straight from Mathematics; in fact Measure Theory and Potential theory are expres- sions of abstract mathematics generalizing the theory of Probability The XVII-th century records the first documented evidence of the use of Probability Theory. More precisely in 1654 Antoine Gombaud, Chevalier de Mere, a French nobleman with an interest in gaming and gambling questions was puzzled by an apparent contradiction concerning a popular dice game The game consisted in throwing a pair of dice 24 times; the problem was to decide whether or not to bet even money on the occurrence of at least one double six"during the 24 throws. A seemingly well-established gambling rule led de mere to believe that betting on a double six in 24 throws would be profitable, but his own calculations based on many repetitions of the 24 throws indicated just the opposite. Using modern probability language, de Mere was trying to establish if such an event has probability greater than 0.5 Puzzled by this and other similar gambling problems he called the attention of the famous mathematician blaise pascal. In turn this led to an exchange of letters between Pascal and another famous French mathematician Pierre e fermat, this exchange becoming the first documented evidence of the fundamental principles of the theory of probabilityProbability. A (very) brief history. Ionut Florescu What is Probability? In essence: Mathematical modeling of random events and phenomena. It is fundamentally different from modeling deterministic events and functions, which constitutes the traditional study of Mathemat￾ics. However, the study of probability uses concepts and notions taken straight from Mathematics; in fact Measure Theory and Potential theory are expres￾sions of abstract mathematics generalizing the theory of Probability. The XVII-th century records the first documented evidence of the use of Probability Theory. More precisely in 1654 Antoine Gombaud, Chevalier de M´er´e, a French nobleman with an interest in gaming and gambling questions, was puzzled by an apparent contradiction concerning a popular dice game. The game consisted in throwing a pair of dice 24 times; the problem was to decide whether or not to bet even money on the occurrence of at least one ”double six” during the 24 throws. A seemingly well-established gambling rule led de M´er´e to believe that betting on a double six in 24 throws would be profitable, but his own calculations based on many repetitions of the 24 throws indicated just the opposite. Using modern probability language, de M´er´e was trying to establish if such an event has probability greater than 0.5. Puzzled by this and other similar gambling problems he called the attention of the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal. In turn this led to an exchange of letters between Pascal and another famous French mathematician Pierre de Fermat, this exchange becoming the first documented evidence of the fundamental principles of the theory of probability. 1