ProbabilityProbability concerns events and numerical descriptions of how likely they are to occur. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1; the larger the probability, the more likely an event is to occur. This number is often expressed as a percentage (%), ranging from 0% to 100%. A simple example is the tossing of a fair (unbiased) coin.
Outcome (probability)In probability theory, an outcome is a possible result of an experiment or trial. Each possible outcome of a particular experiment is a unique random element, and different outcomes are mutually exclusive (only one outcome will occur on each trial of the experiment). All of the possible outcomes of an experiment form the elements of a sample space.
Charles Sanders PeirceAmerican scientist (1839–1914)Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". According to philosopher Paul Weiss, writing in 1934, Peirce was "the most original and versatile of America's philosophers and America's greatest logician".
Karl PopperSir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator.
Donald A. GilliesDonald Angus Gillies (; born 4 May 1944) is a British philosopher and historian of science and mathematics. He is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London.
Probability interpretationsThe word "probability" has been used in a variety of ways since it was first applied to the mathematical study of games of chance. Does probability measure the real, physical, tendency of something to occur, or is it a measure of how strongly one believes it will occur, or does it draw on both these elements? In answering such questions, mathematicians interpret the probability values of probability theory.David Miller (philosopher)David William Miller (19 August 1942 in Watford – 20 November 2024) was an English philosopher and prominent exponent of critical rationalism. He taught in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK, where he was a Reader in Philosophy. He had been an Honorary Treasurer of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. He was educated at Woodbridge School and Peterhouse, Cambridge.
Quantum mechanicsDescription of physical properties at the atomic and subatomic scaleWave functions of the electron in a hydrogen atom at different energy levels. Quantum mechanics cannot predict the exact location of a particle in space, only the probability of finding it at different locations.
AtomSmallest unit of a chemical elementAtoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements and the fundamental building blocks of matter. An atom consists of a nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished from each other by the number of protons that are in their atoms. For example, any atom that contains 11 protons is sodium, and any atom that contains 29 protons is copper.
Radioactive decayEmissions from unstable atomic nucleiRadioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay.
Frequentist probabilityFrequentist probability or frequentism is an interpretation of probability; it defines an event's probability (the long-run probability) as the limit of its relative frequency in infinitely many trials. Probabilities can be found (in principle) by a repeatable objective process, as in repeated sampling from the same population, and are thus ideally devoid of subjectivity. The continued use of frequentist methods in scientific inference, however, has been called into question.Frequency (statistics)In statistics, the frequency or absolute frequency of an event i {\displaystyle i} is the number n i {\displaystyle n_{i}} of times the observation has occurred or been recorded in an experiment or study. The relative frequency is the ratio of absolute frequency to the sample size. The cumulative frequency is the total of the absolute frequencies of all events at or below a certain point in an ordered list of events.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.