The Greek Centre at 168 Lonsdale Street is hosting an open lecture by Dr Antonios Meimaris of Monash University on the history of randomness on Monday at 7pm.
Part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars presented by the Greek Community of Melbourne, the lecture, which will be presented in English, is entitled A Brief History of Randomness: From divination and gambling to modern Probability Theory and Statistics.
Gambling has been part of human existence from the early times and features in many mythologies. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades split the universe between through a game of dice. In the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, King Nala gambled away his kingdom and wealth. Gambling also features in Ancient Egypt when the god, Thoth, gambled with the Moon to win some moonlight.
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The serious mathematical study of the phenomenon only began in the 15th century when the science of randomness was born and which has eventually led to the theories of probability and statistics which are today used in many scientific fields.
Dr Meimaris’ talk, which is open to the general public, will focus on the history of randomness and the early attempts at rigorous mathematicalisation that led to theories of probability and statistics.
Dr Meimaris is a final-year PhD candidate and teaching associate in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University. He is also a member of the Stochastic Engineering Dynamics Lab at Columbia University in the United States.
His research involves working on stochastic problems with applications covering a wide range of scientific disciplines.
♦ For more information on the Greek History and Culture Seminars call (03) 9662 2722 or email: info@greekcommunity.com.au