The History of Statistics: The Measurement of Uncertainty before 1900

By Stephen M. Stigler

Book Overview

This magnificent book is the first comprehensive history of statistics from its beginnings around 1700 to its emergence as a distinct and mature discipline around 1900. Stephen M. Stigler shows how statistics arose from the interplay of mathematical concepts and the needs of several applied sciences including astronomy, geodesy, experimental psychology, genetics, and sociology. He addresses many intriguing questions: How did scientists learn to combine measurements made under different conditions? And how were they led to use probability theory to measure the accuracy of the result? Why were statistical methods used successfully in astronomy long before they began to play a significant role in the social sciences? How could the introduction of least squares predate the discovery of regression by more than eighty years? On what grounds can the major works of men such as Bernoulli, De Moivre, Bayes, Quetelet, and Lexis be considered partial failures, while those of Laplace, Galton, Edgeworth, Pearson, and Yule are counted as successes? How did Galton's probability machine (the quincunx) provide him with the key to the major advance of the last half of the nineteenth century? Stigler's emphasis is upon how, when, and where the methods of probability theory were developed for measuring uncertainty in experimental and observational science, for reducing uncertainty, and as a conceptual framework for quantative studies in the social sciences. He describes with care the scientific context in which the different methods evolved and identifies the problems (conceptual or mathematical) that retarded the growth of mathematical statistics and the conceptual developments that permitted major breakthroughs. Statisticians, historians of science, and social and behavioral scientists will gain from this book a deeper understanding of the use of statistical methods and a better grasp of the promise and limitations of such techniques. The product of ten years of research, The History of Statistics will appeal to all who are interested in the humanistic study of science.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674403401
• ISBN13: 9780674403406
• Release Date: September 1986
• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

great perspective on a key period in the development of statistical science

Stigler is unrivaled as a statistician who researches the history of statistics. This covers the famous mathematicians and statisticians who developed the foundation on which probability and statistics blossomed in the 20th Century. He is thorough and accurate and his writing is always clear and interesting. After reading this try Salsburg's "Lady Tasting Tea" to see how Fisher, Cramer, Neyman and Pearson and Kolmogorov and others formally developed probabilty and mathematical statistics as important disciplines in the 20th Century. Always enjoyable and enlightening, Stigler brings an unparalleled degree of scholarship to the essays.

Great background for students

I love history of mathematics books like this one that have the guts to delve into the actual mathematics involved while retaining a narrative thread. I use it with my children to illustrate why mathematics is important. What problems were people trying to solve? How solutions were arrived at in steps over time rather than as deus ex machina. This is much more effective than presenting mathematics as most schools, out of context as a series of recipes. The book is divided into three main parts: The Development of Mathematical Statistics in Astronomy and Geodesy before 1827 The Struggle to Extend a Calculus of Probabilities to the Social Sciences A Breakthorugh in Studies of Heredity

typical authoritative work of Stigler

Stigler is unrivaled as a statistician who researches the history of statistics. This covers the famous mathematicians and statisticians who developed the foundation on which probability and statistics blossomed in the 20th Century. He is thorough and accurate and his writing is always clear and interesting. After reading this try Salsburg's "Lady Tasting Tea" to see how Fisher, Cramer, Neyman and Pearson and Kolmogorov and others formally developed probabilty and mathematical statistics as important disciplines in the 20th Century.

The difinitive work on the development of ststistics

This book is THE definitive work on the early development of statistics. Obviously written by a man in love with his subject. Bernoulli, de Moivre, Bayes, Laplace, Gauss, Quetelet, Lexis, Galton, Edgeworth and Pearson all but come alive. I particularly enjoyed the reproductions of first sources included that you would otherwise have to travel to Paris to see.