| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £10.35
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The History of Statistics: The Measurement of Uncertainty Before 1900 for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £10.35, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Product Description
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.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Always enjoyable and enlightening, Stigler brings an unparalleled degree of scholarship to the essays.
For intelligent laymen with a general interest in the history of statistics, Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter Bernstein and The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century by David Salsburg will be equally informative and far more enjoyable. Both authors are as knowledgeable as Professor Stigler, but write more clearly.
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Business, Finance & Law > Biographies & Histories > Business & Economic History
- Books > Business, Finance & Law > Economics
- Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > History of Science
- Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Probability & Statistics
- Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Maths
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
