In medieval times, philosophers hated Fortuna, the fickle goddess of chance with her Wheel of Fortune. In his book Consolations of Philosophy, the philosopher Boethius says that only when Fortunia “shows herself unstable and changeable, is she truthful”. In other words, Fortuna is only consistent when she’s inconsistent. The idea of a universe controlled by chance was a nightmare for philosophers who craved order in a world filled with violence and chaos. Boethius himself was executed by order of the King of the Goths shortly after he finished writing his book in prison. Today, though, Fortuna is actually a friend of science. That’s because it turns out that the world of science is closer to a casino online than you maybe think. Since the beginning of modern science in the seventeenth century, probability theory has become essential to law, insurance, sociology, physics, biology, psychology – and gambling, of course. [Read more…]