BUNIAKOVSKI, Victor Yakovlevich. Osnovaniia matematicheskoi teorii veroiatnostei. (=Basis of the mathematical theory of probability). St-Petersburg, 1846.
4to [273 x 206 mm] of (2) ll., xvii pp., (3) pp., 478 pp., (2) pp., 1 plate. Small loss in the upper corner of the half-title, title-page browned. Bound in contemporary blue half-calf, green paperboards, flat spine. Binding damaged. Contemporary binding.
Extremely rare first edition of the first work dedicated to the theory of probability written in Russian.
Victor Yakovlevich Buniakovski (1804-1889) is a great Russian mathematician. He studied in Moscow, in the house of the count Tormasov A.P., a friend of his father, deceased in 1809. Then, at the age of 16, he was sent abroad with the count’s son for 7 years. He lived in Coburg, Lausanne and Paris. In Paris, he took courses at the Sorbonne and at the Collège de France. In 1825, he had his viva dealing with two subjects: analytical mechanics and mathematical physics. He obtained in the Paris School of Sciences, the title of Doctor in mathematics. Back in St-Petersburg, Buniakovski taught first at the University Mathematics, then the mechanical analysis, the differential and integral calculus, and the probability theory. In 1836 he became a full member of the Academy of Sciences and in 1864 his Vice-president, a title he kept almost until his death.
Osnovaniia matematicheskoi teorii veroiatnostei (Basis of the mathematical theory of probability) written in 1846, it was considered at the time by the whole scientific world as an advance without precedent of the mathematical thinking. The work presents the theory itself, the history of its appearance and its development. But it also contains various annexes of the utmost importance dealing with many social matters (demography, insurances, shipbuilding, the probability of statistical surveys, the calculation of losses in time of war…).
Buniakovski is without doubt the father of the Russian theory of probability since his Osnovaniia are the first work dedicated to the theory of probability in Russian. It is composed of 12 chapters and presents, mainly according to Laplace’s principles, original formulas, theorems and their proofs into practice in the social life, the natural philosophy, political and moral sciences.
The work is illustrated with a plate representing geometrical figures.
A precious copy of this rare work of mathematics, preserved in its original condition.
OCLC locates only 4 copies in the world: University of Waterloo Library, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Illinois and Columbia University. We haven’t located any copy in France nor UK.
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