The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900 / / Theodore M. Porter.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Archive 1927-1999
• VerfasserIn: Porter, Theodore M.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2020]; ©1986
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (360 p.)

An essential work on the origins of statisticsThe Rise of Statistical Thinking 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 the enduring relevance and significance of the book since its initial publication, and considers the current place of statistics in scientific research.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- preface to the new edition -- PREFACE -- INTRODUCTION -- PART ONE -- 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 -- PART TWO -- THE SUPREME LAW OF UNREASON -- Chapter Four. THE ERRORS OF ART AND NATURE -- Chapter Five. SOCIAL LAW AND NATURAL SCIENCE -- PART THREE -- THE SCIENCE OF UNCERTAINTY -- Chapter Six. STATISTICAL LAW AND HUMAN FREEDOM -- Chapter Seven. TIME'S ARROW AND STATISTICAL UNCERTAINTY IN PHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY -- PART FOUR -- POLYMATHY AND DISCIPLINE -- Chapter Eight. THE MATHEMATICS OF STATISTICS -- Chapter Nine. THE ROOTS OF BIOMETRICAL STATISTICS -- CONCLUSION -- INDEX