Editor’s Note: Published in 1959, this article comes from Martin Gardner’s legendary Scientific American column Mathematical Games. Read more classic Mathematical Games articles in our 2024 special ...

THE subject of probability originated in the consideration of actual but trivial problems. Its obvious attractions as a field for the exercise of mathematical ingenuity soon gave it a predominantly ...

William James famously wrote, “Everyone knows what attention is”. Yet cognitive scientists are still struggling to come up with a clear definition of attention. The same might be said of confidence.

A Probability of Precipitation or POP is a formal measure of the likelihood of precipitation that is often published from weather forecasting models. In US weather forecasting, POP is the probability ...

Will Kenton is an expert on the economy and investing laws and regulations. He previously held senior editorial roles at Investopedia and Kapitall Wire and holds a MA in Economics from The New School ...