Abstract
Up to the 1820s and including the work of Laplace, developments in probability and statistics were largely inseparable. Scholars who worked in the area had broad scientific interests and official, as distinct from mathematical, statistics had remained in its comparative infancy. The history up to this time is fairly well understood, in large part through Isaac Todhunter’s book (1865), which gives an encyclopedic treatment. See also Hacking (1975) and David (1962), which essentially do not go past Moivre; and Maistrov (1974). For the less mathematical aspects of statistics see, for example, Westergaard (1932) and Meitzen (1891).
There is properly no history; only biography.
R. W. Emerson
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1977 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Heyde, C.C., Seneta, E. (1977). Historical background. In: I. J. Bienaymé. Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, vol 3. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9469-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9469-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9471-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-9469-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive