Stories of the Unplanned Impact of Mathematics: Bayes’ Theorem meets Cyberspace

Thomas Bayes was born in either 1701 or 1702. He died in 1761. A wit has noted that “Bayes’s posterior is better known than his prior.” He was born in London and, from 1719 to about 1722, was a student at the University of Edinburgh. He was ordained as a minister, and ministered in London and Tunbridge Wells. Unfortunately, Bayes was said to have been a poor preacher, however he excelled at mathematics. During his life he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died in Tunbridge Wells and is buried in Bunhill Fields, London.