Cardano, the gambling scholar / by Oystein Ore ; with a translation from the Latin of Cardano's Book on games of chance, by Sydney Henry Gould.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ore, ystein, 1899-1968, author.

Contributor:

Gould, Sydney Henry, translator.

Series:

Princeton Legacy Library ; 4972

Language:

English

Latin

Subjects (All):

Scientists--Italy--Biography.

Scientists.

Gamblers--Biography.

Gamblers.

Gambling--History--16th century.

Gambling.

Gambling--Early works to 1800.

Cardano, Girolamo, 1501-1576.

Cardano, Girolamo.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (268 pages) : illustrations, portraits

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1953.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Cardano, next to Vesalius the greatest physician of his day, was also a devoted and skilled gambler who played for personal pleasure and profit. His mathematical genius enabled him to devise simple rules of probability for his own benefit and for his gambling contemporaries. These he collected in his Book on Games of Chance and embellished them with essays on the tricks of cheats and kibitzers, as well as on psychological rules of play. In this biography of a stormy Renaissance personality, Cardano's gambling studies are deciphered for the first time, and a translation of the Book on Games of Chance is appended.Originally published in 1953.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Contents

Illustrations

Plates

1. The Stormy Life of Cardano

2. Cardano's Enigmatic Character

3. The Battles of the Scholars

4. Cardano the Gambler

5. The Science of Gambling

Bibliography

Liber de Ludo Aleae

1. On Kinds of Games

2. On Conditions of Play

3. Who Should Play and When

4-. The Utility of Play, and Losses

5. Why I Have Dealt with Gambling

6. The Fundamental Principle of Gambling

7. The Hanging Dice Box and Dishonest Dice

8. Conditions Under Which One Should Play

9. On The Cast of One Die

10. Why Gambling Was Condemned by Aristotle

11. On the Cast of Two Dice

12. On the Cast of Three Dice

13. On Composite Numbers Up to Six and Beyond and for Two and Three Dice

14. On Combined Points

15. On an Error Which Is Made About This

16. On Card Games

17. On Frauds in Games of This Kind

18. Customary Conventionsi in Primero

19. On the Diversity of Points or Numbers in Primero

20. On Luck in Play

21. On Timidity in the Throw

22. On the Twofold Division of Games

23. On Card Games in Which There is Occasion for Trained Skill

24. On The Difference Between Play with Cards and Play with Dice

25. On Card Games

26. Do Those Who Teach Also Play Well?

27. Is There Some Element Apart from Skill Which Plays a Role in the Exercise of Skill?

28. On Far-Reaching Plans, Judgment, and Procedure [in Backgammon]

29. On the Character of Players

30. On Games of Chance Among the Ancients

31. On Play with Knucklebones

32. Conclusion of the Work

Index of Persons

Index of Subjects

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Contains:

Cardano, Girolamo, 1501-1576. Liber de ludo aleae. English. 1953.

ISBN:

1-4008-8759-3

OCLC:

1132219537