Stephen M. Stigler is the Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Statistics and the College at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including The History of Statistics and The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom.

• IntroductionOneCasanovaTwoThe Genoese LotteryThreeThe Establishment of the LoterieFourProblems and Adjustments in the Early DrawingsFiveAntoine Blanquet and the Great Expansion of 1776SixThe Introduction of Bonus Numbers: Les Primes GratuitesSevenThe Spread of the Loterie in EuropeEightData Security: The Design of the TicketsNineThe Loterie and the RevolutionTenWas the Loterie Fair?ElevenDreams and Astrology: The Bettors and the LoterieTwelveThe Number 45 and the Maturity of ChancesThirteenHow Much Did They Bet, and Where?FourteenMuskets, Fine-Tuned Risk, and VoltaireFifteenThe Loterie in Textbooks and ManualsSixteenThe Suppression of the Loterie in 1836ConclusionAcknowledgmentsAppendix 1. ProbabilityAppendix 2. Laplace’s Lottery TheoremReferencesIndex

“The book [stands] witness to the remarkable skills of the author, who searched for related material for more than thirty years, from Parisian specialized booksellers to French, English, and American archives. He manages to bring a wealth of connections and characters into the story, such as Voltaire’s scheme to take advantage of an earlier French state lottery aimed at reimbursing state debtors.”

Stephen M. Stigler is the Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Statistics and the College at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including The History of Statistics and The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom.

• IntroductionOneCasanovaTwoThe Genoese LotteryThreeThe Establishment of the LoterieFourProblems and Adjustments in the Early DrawingsFiveAntoine Blanquet and the Great Expansion of 1776SixThe Introduction of Bonus Numbers: Les Primes GratuitesSevenThe Spread of the Loterie in EuropeEightData Security: The Design of the TicketsNineThe Loterie and the RevolutionTenWas the Loterie Fair?ElevenDreams and Astrology: The Bettors and the LoterieTwelveThe Number 45 and the Maturity of ChancesThirteenHow Much Did They Bet, and Where?FourteenMuskets, Fine-Tuned Risk, and VoltaireFifteenThe Loterie in Textbooks and ManualsSixteenThe Suppression of the Loterie in 1836ConclusionAcknowledgmentsAppendix 1. ProbabilityAppendix 2. Laplace’s Lottery TheoremReferencesIndex

“The book [stands] witness to the remarkable skills of the author, who searched for related material for more than thirty years, from Parisian specialized booksellers to French, English, and American archives. He manages to bring a wealth of connections and characters into the story, such as Voltaire’s scheme to take advantage of an earlier French state lottery aimed at reimbursing state debtors.”

Stephen M. Stigler is the Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Statistics and the College at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including The History of Statistics and The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom.

• IntroductionOneCasanovaTwoThe Genoese LotteryThreeThe Establishment of the LoterieFourProblems and Adjustments in the Early DrawingsFiveAntoine Blanquet and the Great Expansion of 1776SixThe Introduction of Bonus Numbers: Les Primes GratuitesSevenThe Spread of the Loterie in EuropeEightData Security: The Design of the TicketsNineThe Loterie and the RevolutionTenWas the Loterie Fair?ElevenDreams and Astrology: The Bettors and the LoterieTwelveThe Number 45 and the Maturity of ChancesThirteenHow Much Did They Bet, and Where?FourteenMuskets, Fine-Tuned Risk, and VoltaireFifteenThe Loterie in Textbooks and ManualsSixteenThe Suppression of the Loterie in 1836ConclusionAcknowledgmentsAppendix 1. ProbabilityAppendix 2. Laplace’s Lottery TheoremReferencesIndex

“The book [stands] witness to the remarkable skills of the author, who searched for related material for more than thirty years, from Parisian specialized booksellers to French, English, and American archives. He manages to bring a wealth of connections and characters into the story, such as Voltaire’s scheme to take advantage of an earlier French state lottery aimed at reimbursing state debtors.”