Stop calling Bernoulli’s law of large numbers his "Golden Theorem" (Please?)

Jakob Bernoulli (1655 - 1705) proved the first form of the law of large numbers before 1690 and realized the range of applications of probability calculus would be largely widened by the result. It is pretty common to find examples in the statistical literature referring to it as his “Golden Theorem”. But when did Jakob name his discovery? In fact, he never did, at least this one. A mistake in the translation of Bernoulli's major work, Ars Conjectandi (1713), and the fact that Bernoulli named another result as “Golden theorem” led us to propagate this mistake ... for almost 100 years.

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Publication Details

Journal
Revista Brasileira de História da Matemática
Published
2024-09-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.47976/rbhm2024v24n48151-155
Primary Topic
Probability and Statistical Research
Type
article
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article

Stop calling Bernoulli’s law of large numbers his "Golden Theorem" (Please?)

Márcio Alves Diniz
Revista Brasileira de História da Matemática
Probability and Statistical Research
article

Stop calling Bernoulli’s law of large numbers his "Golden Theorem" (Please?)

Márcio Alves Diniz
article en

Abstract

Jakob Bernoulli (1655 - 1705) proved the first form of the law of large numbers before 1690 and realized the range of applications of probability calculus would be largely widened by the result. It is pretty common to find examples in the statistical literature referring to it as his “Golden Theorem”. But when did Jakob name his discovery? In fact, he never did, at least this one. A mistake in the translation of Bernoulli's major work, Ars Conjectandi (1713), and the fact that Bernoulli named another result as “Golden theorem” led us to propagate this mistake ... for almost 100 years.

Revista Brasileira de História da MatemáticaVol. 24(48)
Universidade Federal de São Carlos (BR)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 84%
Probability and Statistical Research
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Stop calling Bernoulli’s law of large numbers his "Golden Theorem" (Please?) — Márcio Alves Diniz · Revista Brasileira de História da Matemática (2024) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS