Dice and Probability

Abstract

The first systematic investigation of games of chance began in the middle of the 17th century. In the 13th century, the probabilities of the various sums that can be obtained with a pair of dice were correctly determined. The first to create a systematic, universal approach to the description of problems of chance and probability was Jacob Bernoulli (1654–1705), with his Ars coniectandi. Bernoulli had in mind not only games of chance, but also the problems of everyday life. Of central importance in Bernoulli’s theory is the notion of probability, which Bernoulli called a “degree of certainty.” Probabilities can thus be computed just as they are for dice whenever a system of equal probabilities is under consideration. In the case of a single die, symmetry is the reason for considering the six possible values as equiprobable and thus for assigning the same probability to each of the six events.