Book Description

Karl Pearson, founder of modern statistics, came to this field by way of passionate early studies of philosophy and cultural history as well as ether physics and graphical geometry. His faith in science grew out of a deeply moral quest, reflected also in his socialism and his efforts to find a new basis for relations between men and women. This biography recounts Pearson's extraordinary intellectual adventure and sheds new light on the inner life of science.

Theodore Porter's intensely personal portrait of Pearson extends from religious crisis and sexual tensions to metaphysical and even mathematical anxieties. Pearson sought to reconcile reason with enthusiasm and to achieve the impersonal perspective of science without sacrificing complex individuality. Even as he longed to experience nature directly and intimately, he identified science with renunciation and positivistic detachment. Porter finds a turning point in Pearson's career, where his humanistic interests gave way to statistical ones, in his Grammar of Science (1892), in which he attempted to establish scientific method as the moral educational basis for a refashioned culture.

In this original and engaging book, a leading historian of modern science investigates the interior experience of one man's scientific life while placing it in a rich tapestry of social, political, and intellectual movements.

Book Description
This a history of the use of Bayes' theorem over 150 years, from its discovery by Thomas Bayes to the rise of the statistical competitors in the first third of the twentieth century. In the new edition, the author's concern is the foundations of statistics, in particular, the examination of the development of one of the fundamental aspects of Bayesian statistics. The reader will find new sections on contributors to the theory omitted from the first edition, which will shed light on the use of inverse probability by nineteenth century authors. In addition, there is amplified discussion of relevant work from the first edition. This text will be a valuable reference source in the wider field of the history of statistics and probability. ... Read more

Book Description
The Grammar of Science, originally published in 1892, was considered an essential read by budding young scientists like Albert Einstein. Pearson's work contributed to Einstein's greatest discoveries by introducing him to the ideas of relativity of motion, equivalence between matter and energy, and the concept of antimatter. Pearson opens his book with a definition and discussion of science itself, detailing what is required for inquiries to be scientific in nature. He then moves on to discuss space and time, motion, matter, and the future of scientific progress. Professionals and students alike will be fascinated by Pearson's insight into the nature of reality. British professor KARL PEARSON (1857-1936) worked at University College in London. He invented mathematical statistics and formed the Department of Applied Statistics at the University of London. He wrote many books and papers, including a biography of Francis Galton, a proponent of eugenics, and studies on evolution. ... Read more

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Book Description
Karl Pearson was a substantial figure in progressive scientific circles in England in the 1880s.A trained barrister, Pearson had also studied mathematics, physics and engineering, and after spending some time at the bar, took a post lecturing in mathematics at University College, London, in 1884.In addition, he lectured to working-class audiences and published on socialism and ''freethought;'' that is, the notion that scientific knowledge and an understanding of processes of social evolution, based on biological research, freed the individual to develop a high standard of morality and personal integrity.Pearson's was an all-embracing philosophy of science, with far wider connotations than simply the practice of science itself.For him, ... science, no less than theology or philosophy, is the field for personal influence, for the creation of enthusiasm;and for the establishment of ideals of self-discipline and self-development.No man becomes great in science from the mere force of intellect, unguided and unaccompanied by what really amount to moral force.Behind the intellectual capacity there is the devotion to truth, the deep sympathy with nature, and the determination to sacrifice all minor matters to one great end. ... Read more