Pepy’s puzzle
Filed in Articles ,Encyclopedia ,SJDM
Subscribe to Decision Science News by Email (one email per week, easy unsubscribe)
Subscribe to Decision Science News by Email (one email per week, easy unsubscribe)
QUESTION FROM A LETTER TO NEWTON
In 1693, Samuel Pepys wrote Isaac Newton a letter asking for help solving a probability problem:
Which is most probable?
A. Six fair dice are tossed independently and at least one “6” appears.
B. Twelve fair dice are tossed independently and at least two “6”s appear.
C. Eighteen fair dice are tossed independently and at least three “6”s appear.
Standing on the shoulders of giants, it is not as hard today as it was in the 17th century, but take a shot at solving it.
Watch the next post of Decision Science News for the answer and reference to a paper that addresses it.
