Skip to main content

Edgeworth as a Statistician

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
  • 31 Accesses

Abstract

Francis Edgeworth was the leading theorist of mathematical statistics of the latter half of the 19th century, though his influence was diminished by the difficulty of his exposition. He is most frequently remembered today for his work on the Edgeworth Series, but in fact he touched on nearly every sphere of modern statistics, from the analysis of variance to stochastic models, to multivariate analysis, to the asymptotic theory of maximum likelihood estimates, to inventory theory. In some areas such as correlation, his work was decisive in the development of all that followed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Bowley, A.L. 1928. F.Y. Edgeworth’s contributions to mathematical statistics. London: Royal Statistical Society. Reprinted, New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramér, H. 1972. On the history of certain expansions used in mathematical statistics. Biometrika 59: 205–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edgeworth, F.Y. 1885a. Observations and statistics. An essay on the theory of errors of observation and the first principles of statistics. Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 14: 138–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1885b. Methods of statistics. Jubilee Volume of the Statistical Society: 181–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1885c. On methods of ascertaining variations in the rate of births, deaths, and marriages. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 48: 628–649.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1888. The mathematical theory of banking. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 51: 113–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1892a. Correlated averages. Philosophical Magazine 34(Fifth Series): 190–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1892b. The law of error and correlated averages. Philosophical Magazine 34(Fifth Series): 429–438, 518–26

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1905. The law of error. Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 20: 36–65, 113–41

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1908. On the probable errors of frequency-constants. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 71: 381–397, 499–512, 651–678; 72, 81–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, M.G. 1968. Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, 1845–1926. Biometrika 55: 269–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969. The early history of index numbers. Review of the International Statistical Institute 37: 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, J. 1976. F.Y. Edgeworth and R.A. Fisher on the efficiency of maximum likelihood estimation. Annals of Statistics 4: 501–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stigler, S.M. 1978. Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, statistician (with discussion). Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A 141: 287–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1980. An Edgeworth curiosum. Annals of Statistics 8: 931–934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1986. The history of statistics: The measurement of uncertainty before 1900. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Stigler, S.M. (2018). Edgeworth as a Statistician. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_330

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics