{"product_id":"the-unfinished-game-pascal-fermat-and-the-seventeenth-century-letter-that-made-the-world-modern","title":"The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern","description":"Before the mid-seventeenth century, scholars generally agreed that it was impossible to predict something by calculating mathematical outcomes. One simply could not put a numerical value on the likelihood that a particular event would occur. Even the outcome of something as simple as a dice roll or the likelihood of showers instead of sunshine was thought to lie in the realm of pure, unknowable chance. The issue remained intractable until Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat in 1654, outlining a solution to the “unfinished game€ problem: how do you divide the pot when players are forced to end a game of dice before someone has won? The idea turned out to be far more seminal than Pascal realized. From it, the two men developed the method known today as probability theory. In The Unfinished Game, mathematician and NPR commentator Keith Devlin tells the story of this correspondence and its remarkable impact on the modern world: from insurance rates, to housi\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0465009107\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.0465009107.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Devlin, Keith\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41759292489786,"sku":"DBV.0465009107.G","price":8.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/0465009107-0.jpg?v=1792119293","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/the-unfinished-game-pascal-fermat-and-the-seventeenth-century-letter-that-made-the-world-modern","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}