InterpretingProbability:ControversiesandDevelopmentsintheEarlyTwentiethCentury

Thetermprobabilitycanbeusedintwomainsenses.Inthefrequencyinterpretationitisalimitingratioinasequenceofrepeatableevents.IntheBayesianview,probabilityisamentalconstructrepresentinguncertainty.Thisbookisaboutthesetwotypesofprobabilityandinvestigateshow,despitebeingadoptedbyscientistsandstatisticiansintheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies,Bayesianismwasdiscreditedasatheoryofscientificinferenceduringthe1920sand1930s.ThroughtheexaminationofadisputebetweentwoBritishscientists,theauthorarguesthatachoicebetweenthetwointerpretationsisnotforcedbypurelogicorthemathematicsofthesituation,butdependsontheexperiencesandaimsoftheindividualsinvolved.Thebookshouldbeofinteresttostudentsandscientistsinterestedinstatisticsandprobabilitytheoriesandtogeneralreaderswithaninterestinthehistory,sociologyandphilosophyofscience.