What was the earliest known use of statistical inference?
Al-Kindi's Cryptanalysis
Galileo's Telescope
Newton's Gravity
Einstein's Relativity
Answer
Al-Kindi (801-873 AD) was an Arab mathematician and polymath. In his work on cryptanalysis, he was the first to use statistical inference to break a cipher. He did this by looking at the frequency of letters in the text and using this information to guess the key.
The Trailblazing Mind: Exploring the Legacy of Al-Kindi