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Markov’s “Calculus of Probabilities”

Philadelphia Area Seminar History of Mathematics PASHoM

Thursday, October 24, 2024 - 6:30pm to 8:15pm

Professor Alan Levine

Franklin and Marshall College

Location

Villanova University

Mendel 103

Zoom link: https://villanova.zoom.us/j/91964019309?pwd=QmhlS3hncSs1Tm5LemZ1T082OG1JQT09 Meeting ID: 919 6401 9309 Passcode: 105071 PASHOM will meet both in-person and remotely via ZOOM

In 1900, the great Russian mathematician A. A. Markov (1856 – 1922) wrote a book titled, “Calculus of Probabilities (Исчисление Вероятностей). Three more editions followed, in 1908, 1912 and 1924 (posthumously). Until recently, none of the editions had been translated into English. In 2022, I completed a translation of the first edition. In this talk, I’ll highlight some key features of the book, some of which are rather similar to current probability texts, while others are indicative of the “state of the art” at the time.