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Wiley, 1997. - 432 pages.
A fascinating chronicle of the lives and achievements of the men and women who helped shapethe science of statisticsThis handsomely illustrated volume will make enthralling reading for scientists, mathematicians, and science history buffs alike. Spanning nearly four centuries, it chronicles the lives and achievements of more than 110 of the most prominent names in theoretical and applied statistics and probability. From Bernoulli to Markov, Poisson to Wiener, you will find intimate profiles of women and men whose work led to significant advances in the areas of statistical inference and theory, probability theory, government and economic statistics, medical and agricultural statistics, and science and engineering. To help readers arrive at a fuller appreciation of the contributions these pioneers made, the authors vividly re-create the times in which they lived while exploring the major intellectual currents that shaped their thinking and propelled their discoveries.Lavishly illustrated with more than 40 authentic photographs and woodcuts * Includes a comprehensive timetable of statistics from the seventeenth century to the present * Features edited chapters written by 75 experts from around the globe * Designed for easy reference, features a unique numbering scheme that matches the subject profiled with his or her particular field of interest
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Leading Personalities in Statistical Sciences
WILEY SERIES IN PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS Established by WALTER A. SHEWHART and SAMUEL S. WILKS Editors: Vic Barnett, Ralph A. Bradley, Nicholas I. Fisher, J. Stuart Hunter, J. B. Kadane, David G Kendall, David W. Scott, Adrian F. M. Smith, JozefL. Teugels, Geoffrey S. Watson A complete list of the titles in this series appears at the end of this volume.
Leading Personalities in Statistical Sciences FROM THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT
Edited by NORMAN L. JOHNSON University of North Carolina and SAMUEL KOTZ University of Maryland
A Wiley-lnterscience Publication JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto
Cover photograph depicts Lambert Aldolphe Quetelet, 1796-1874
Some material in this work may have originally appeared in or been adapted from Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences. Volumes I to 9, and Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences: Supplement Volume, all edited by Norman L. Johnson and Samuel Kotz or Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences: Update Volumes I and 2, edited by Samuel Kotz, Campbell B. Read, and David L. Banks. Printed on acid-free paper. Copyright ©1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: Leading personalities in statistical sciences: from the 17th century to the present/[edited by] Norman L. Johnson, Samuel Kotz. p. cm.—(Wiley series in probability and mathematical statistics. Probability and mathematical statistics) "A Wiley-Interscience publication." Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-471-16381-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Statisticians-Biography. I. Johnson, Norman Lloyd. II. Kotz, Samuel. III. Series. QA276.I56.L43 1997 510'92'2—dc21 97-9152 [B] CIP
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If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton in a letter written on February 5, 1676 to Robert