Events

Join Stephen M. Stigler, Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Statistics at the University of Chicago, to discuss his book Casanova’s Lottery: The History of a Revolutionary Game of Chance (University of Chicago Press, 2022).

In Stephen’s words: “My book tells the story of one of a lottery that was operated by the State in France from 1758 to 1836, very similar to present day Lotto. Protected by the law of large numbers, the French state gained wealth, and French educators lured generations of students into the study of probability. Some data are presented here that arose from a rigorously random survey conducted two centuries ago. They shed new light on how people approach risk. The cast of characters includes mathematicians, philosophers, statesmen, novelists, and scoundrels, such as Casanova, Voltaire, Talleyrand, John Law, and Madame du Pompadour.”

Stephen was just recently awarded the 2023 Neumann Prize for his book. The prize is awarded for a book in English (including books in translation) dealing with the history of mathematics, aimed at a non-specialist readership.

For complete event details please follow the link provided.