Probability and exams: The work of Antonio Bordoni

The Italian mathematician Antonio Bordoni is mainly known for his adherence to the Lagrangian approach to the foundations of calculus and for his role in creating an important school of mathematics. In this paper, I consider his less known work on the application of probability to design exams and analyze their outcomes. Within this framework, he obtained in 1837, as Mondésir and Poisson, the result that would lead Catalan to formulate his “new principle” of probability (Jongmans and Seneta, 1994). Moreover, in 1843, Bordoni also gave an early complete proof of the finite rule of succession.