Questions:
1. Two people are playing a game of chance in rounds. They have equal chances of winning each round. They also contribute equally to a pot that the winner who wins n number of rounds will take. If the game is stopped before the nth round, how should the pot be split? In July 1654, two French mathematicians, X and Y, provided the first reasoned answer to this question. Name X and Y.
2. The system of reasoning X and Y (from Q1) developed laid the basis for modern ___________ theory. Fill in the blank with the name of a field considered to be the mathematical foundation for statistics.
3. Name the hypothesis (in Latin) attributed to Aristotle, and later supported by René Descartes among others, that X (from Q1) overturned in experiments involving liquid mercury and air pressure in 1647.
4. Y (from Q1) is very famous for a theorem he proposed but didn’t prove. The British mathematician Andrew Wiles finally solved it in 1994 with what has since been called the “proof of the century”. Name the theorem.
5. Y (from Q1) gave his name to a famous principle that states that a ___ of _____ takes the path to travel between two points that takes the last time. Fill in the blanks.
Visual:
X (from Q1) published 18 letters from 1656 denouncing an ethical method called casuistry. His use of satire and mockery influenced the writings of the man shown above, who was also famous for his criticism of Christianity. Name him.
Answers:
1. Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat
2. Probability
3. Horror vacui
4. The Last Theorem
5. Ray of light
Visual: Voltaire
