Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This book provides a selection of pioneering papers or extracts ranging from Pascal (1654) to R.A. Fisher (1930). The editors' annotations put the articles in perspective for the modern reader. A special feature of the book is the large number of translations, nearly all made by the authors. There are several reasons for studying the history of statistics: intrinsic interest in how the field of statistics developed, learning from often brilliant ideas and not reinventing the wheel, and livening up general courses in statistics by reference to important contributors.
Synopsis
Interest in the his tory of statistics has grown substantially in recent years and the subject is now covered by a number of excellent books. S. M. Stigler's The History of Statistics (19S6) gives an overview up to 1900 while Anders Hald's two encyclopedic volumes A History of Probability and Statistics before 1750 and A History of Mathematical Statistics f'T'Om 1750 to 1930, published in 1990 and 1995, provide detailed mathematical discussion of the major contributions up to 1930. Hald's books have re moved Isaac Todhunter's A History of Probability from the pedestal which it occupied for a century and a quarter and rendered Karl Pearson's Lec ture Notes of mainly historical interest themselves. Journal papers have appeared on specific topics, especially in the series "Studies in the History of Probability and Statistics" in Biometrika and in the long sequence of papers in Archive for the History of the Exact Sciences by O. Sheynin. The two volumes of reprinted papers, mostly from Biometrika, issued in 1970 and 1977 have proved particularly valuable. More recently, many important papers published since 1900 have been reprinted with commentaries in the three-volume Breakth'T'Oughs in Statistics (1992-1997). Stigler's Statistics on the Table (1999) provides illuminating vignettes. In addition, specialized books have appeared on particular topics, such as A. I. Dale's A History of Inverse P'T'Obability (1991, 1999) and R. W. Fare brother's Fitting Linear Relationships (199S). The pioneering book on the early period, F. N."
Synopsis
This collection of classic articles in statistics combined with commentary by the editors will be of interest to all serious statisticians.
Synopsis
This book provides a selection of pioneering papers or extracts ranging from Pascal (1654) to R.A. Fisher (1930). The authors' annotations put the articles in perspective for the modern reader. A special feature of the book is the large number of translations, nearly all made by the authors. The selected articles vary considerably in difficulty, some requiring only a basic understanding of statistical concepts, whereas others surprise by their early sophistication in classical statistics. There are several reasons for studying the history of statistics: intrinsic interest in how the field of statistics developed, learning from often brilliant ideas and not reinventing the wheel, and livening up general courses in statistics by reference to important contributors. Herbert A. David is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Statistics, Iowa State University and served as Department Head from 1972 to 184. He was Editor of Biometric from 1967 to 1972 and President of Biometric Society for 1982-1983. His publications include books on Order Statistics (Wiley 1970, 1981) and The Method of Paired Comparisons (Griffin 1963, 1988). Apart from articles in these two areas he has written on statistical inference, experimental designs, competing risks, and the history of statistics. He received a Ph.D. in statistics from University College London in 1953. A.W.F. Edwards is Reader in Biometry in the University of Cambridge. He was President of the British Region of the Biometric Society in 1992-1994 and is Chairman of the Christiaan Huygens Committee for the History of Statistics of the International Statistical Institute. His publications include the books Likelihood (Cambridge University Press 1972, Johns Hopkins University Press 1992), Foundations of Mathematical Genetics (Cambridge University Press 1977, 2000), and Pascal's Arithmetical Triangle (Griffin 1987). He holds the degrees of Ph.D. and Sc.D. from Cambridge University.