Editors:
Examines the work of Lewis F Richardson, who is unique in occupying an important position in two disparate academic fields: meteorology and peace research
Reviews his work in peace research, where he pioneered the use of mathematical models and the meticulous compilation of databases for empirical research and is regularly cited for these contributions
Discusses the strict standards he set not only for his scientific work but also for its ethical aspects
Reveals how, as a Quaker and pacifist, he refused to work in preparation for war, paid a heavy price in terms of his career, and (at least in the social sciences) was only recognized as a pioneering scholar posthumously
Part of the book series: Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice (PAHSEP, volume 27)
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Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
Lewis F Richardson occupied an important position in two academic fields as different as meteorology and peace research, with academic prizes awarded in both disciplines.
In peace research, he pioneered the use of mathematical models and the meticulous compilation of databases for empirical research.
As a quaker and pacifist, he refused to work in preparations for war, paid a heavy prize in terms of his career, and (at least in the social sciences) was fully recognized as a pioneering scholar only posthumously with the publication of two major books.
Lewis Fry Richardson is one of the 20th century’s greatest but least appreciated thinkers—a creative physicist, psychologist, meteorologist, applied mathematician, historian, pacifist, statistician, and witty stylist. If you’ve heard of weather prediction, chaos, fractals, cliometrics, peace science, big data, thick tails, or black swans, then you have benefited from Richardson’s prescience in bringing unruly phenomena into the ambit of scientific understanding. Richardson’s ideas continue to be relevant today, and this collection is a superb retrospective on this brilliant and lovable man.
Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor, Harvard University, and the author of The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now
Keywords
- Open access
- Armed conflict
- Arms races
- Conflict and contiguity
- Boundaries
- Mathematical models
Editors and Affiliations
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Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Oslo, Norway
Nils Petter Gleditsch
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Lewis Fry Richardson: His Intellectual Legacy and Influence in the Social Sciences
Editors: Nils Petter Gleditsch
Series Title: Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31589-4
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020
License: CC BY
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-31588-7Published: 19 December 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-31591-7Published: 11 September 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-31589-4Published: 10 December 2019
Series ISSN: 2509-5579
Series E-ISSN: 2509-5587
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 148
Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations, 17 illustrations in colour
Topics: Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice, Science, multidisciplinary, Peace Studies, Political Science, History of Science, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary