Leading Personalities in Statistical Sciences: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present Paperback - 1997 - 1st Edition

First line

Ernst Abbe overcame a childhood of privation and a financially precarious situation early in his academic career when he completed his inaugural dissertation, "On the Law of Distribution of Errors in Observation Series."

From the rear cover

A fascinating chronicle of the lives and achievements of the men and women who helped shapethe science of statistics

This 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