A Research on P. L. Chebyshev's Thoughts in Probability and Its Mathematical Background and Motivation

Abstract:

      P. L. Chebyshev was the greatest mathematician in Russian Empire in 18th century. It was him that advocated that the limit theorem of probability should be proved strictly, and the deviation from the limit value should be estimit as accurately as possibly. These caused great changes in methodology. Chebyshev's Inequality and Law of Large Numbers are the foundational work on the limit theory of probability. Its publication symbolizes the rigorize of the theory of probability as a branch of mathematics. This paper analyses P.L.Chebyshev's novel thoughts on probability, and concentrate on the earlier period that culminates with Chebyshev, and specifically on the mathematical background and motivation for his activity in probability.