What happened when a gambler asked for help from a mathematician? The formal study of Probability. Infinite Series is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV ...

Finding π using random numbers and probability. This short demonstrates a Monte Carlo approach, showing how randomness and statistics can converge to an accurate estimate of pi through repeated trials ...

Majorisation is used to compare discrete distributions in terms of randomness or, equivalently, informativeness. Some properties of measures of randomness are discussed. The effect on degree of ...

Humans are not terribly good at accurately assessing probability and dealing with randomness. This may stem from these skills having little evolutionary value. We exhibit hindsight and confirmation ...

Here’s a deceptively simple exercise: Come up with a random phone number. Seven digits in a sequence, chosen so that every digit is equally likely, and so that your choice of one digit doesn’t affect ...

The outrage of the moment in my social media circles is over the New York Times hiring Bret Stephens as an opinion columnist, who promptly devoted his first regular column to sowing doubt about ...