000			02247nam a2200253Ia 4500
001			2540
008			230305s2009 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9781848310568
041			_aeng
245		0	_aIntroducing statistics
260			_a _bIcon Books, _c2009
300			_a174 p. : ill. ; 17 cm.
520			_aFrom the medicine we take, the treatments we receive, the aptitude and psychometric tests given by employers, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear to even the beer we drink, statistics have given shape to the world we inhabit. For the media, statistics are routinely 'damning', 'horrifying', or, occasionally, 'encouraging'. Yet, for all their ubiquity, most of us really don't know what to make of statistics. Exploring the history, mathematics, philosophy and practical use of statistics, Eileen Magnello - accompanied by Bill Mayblin's intelligent graphic illustration - traces the rise of statistics from the ancient Babylonians, Egyptians and Chinese, to the censuses of Romans and the Greeks, and the modern emergence of the term itself in Europe. She explores the 'vital statistics' of, in particular, William Farr, and the mathematical statistics of Karl Pearson and R.A. Fisher.She even tells how knowledge of statistics can prolong one's life, as it did for evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, given eight months to live after a cancer diagnoses in 1982 - and he lived until 2002. This title offers an enjoyable, surprise-filled tour through a subject that is both fascinating and crucial to understanding our world. ; ; Eileen Magnello trained and worked as a statistician before doing her doctorate in the history of science at St Antony's College, Oxford. She has published extensively on the life and statistical innovations of the Victorian statistician Karl Pearson and is a Research Associate at University College London. Bill Mayblinhas illustrated a number of Introducing titles including Derrida and Logic.
630			_aQA MATHEMATICS _92046
650			_aStatistics - History.
700			_aVan Loon, Borin _eAuthor _911162
700			_aMagnello, Eileen _eAuthor _911163
902			_a721
905			_am
912			_a2009-01-01
942			_a1
953			_d2019-04-30 10:51:45
999			_c2455 _d2455