Bayesian statistics help decide what email you get is spam. It can assess security and medical risks, decode DNA, enhance blurry pictures, help explain stock market volatility, predict the spread of an infectious disease, and its methods were even used by Alan Turing in World War 2 to crack the secret of the Nazi enigma code.

First presented in 1763, Bayes’ Theorem never really took off until the 1980’s. But why?

In this episode, we chat with Monash University Professor Gael Martin about the history of Bayes’ theorem, the ideas behind it, and why it’s really becoming a powerful statistical tool in the 21st century.

Our hosts for this episode are Tim Macuga and Dr Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi.

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• Link to Paper – Computing Bayes: Bayesian Computation from 1763 to the 21st Century
• Link to Gael’s website
• Paper on ‘Focused Bayesian Prediction’