2. Revolutionary Developments Between 1750 and 1810

The second half of the eighteenth century was a remarkable period of development for both probability (and statistics) and actuarial thought (and practice) more broadly. Two fundamentally important fields of statistical and actuarial thought emerged over the period that can each now be seen as a natural flowering of the seeds planted over the previous 100 years. First, a number of major theoretical breakthroughs were made that created the permanent foundations for the inversion of mathematical probability into inferential statistics. Second, the whole-of-life-with-profit policy was conceived and successfully brought to market. This transformed life assurance from a short-term insurance contract into a long-term savings vehicle that strongly resonated with the emerging professional classes of late-Georgian Britain.