The rise of statistical thinking, 1820-1900 / Theodore M. Porter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Porter, Theodore M., 1953- author.

Series:

Princeton scholarship online.

Princeton scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematical statistics--History--19th century.

Mathematical statistics.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

New edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 2021.

Summary:

'The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900' explores the history of statistics from the field's origins in the nineteenth century through to the factors that produced the burst of modern statistical innovation in the early twentieth century. Theodore Porter shows that statistics was not developed by mathematicians and then applied to the sciences and social sciences. Rather, the field came into being through the efforts of social scientists, who saw a need for statistical tools in their examination of society. Pioneering statistical physicists and biologists James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann, and Francis Galton introduced statistical models to the sciences by pointing to analogies between their disciplines and the social sciences. A new preface by the author looks at how the book has remained relevant since its initial publication.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS

preface to the new edition

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

THE SOCIAL CALCULUS

Chapter One. STATISTICS AS SOCIAL SCIENCE

Chapter Two. THE LAWS THAT GOVERN CHAOS

Chapter Three. FROM NATURE'S URN TO THE INSURANCE OFFICE

THE SUPREME LAW OF UNREASON

Chapter Four. THE ERRORS OF ART AND NATURE

Chapter Five. SOCIAL LAW AND NATURAL SCIENCE

THE SCIENCE OF UNCERTAINTY

Chapter Six. STATISTICAL LAW AND HUMAN FREEDOM

Chapter Seven. TIME'S ARROW AND STATISTICAL UNCERTAINTY IN PHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY

POLYMATHY AND DISCIPLINE

Chapter Eight. THE MATHEMATICS OF STATISTICS

Chapter Nine. THE ROOTS OF BIOMETRICAL STATISTICS

CONCLUSION

INDEX

Notes:

This edition previously issued in print: 2020.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on December 17, 2020).

ISBN:

9780691210520

0691210527

OCLC:

1162161950