Concerning the validity of the stochastic approach to chemical kinetics

A simple argument advanced recently in support of the legitimacy of the stochastic formulation of chemical kinetics has been criticized because it seems to require the imminent collision of widely separated molecules. It is argued here that this criticism is unwarranted because it is based on an incorrect use of probabilities. To illustrate the various probabilistic considerations involved, a detailed analysis is presented of a closely related but mathematically simpler problem: the calculation of the collision probability per unit time for a thermally equilibrized one-dimensional gas of point particles.