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KARL PEARSON'S HISTORY OF STATISTICS*

This is a fascinating publication. It is certainly the most interesting book about the history of statistics ever to have appeared. But it is more than that. It is an intellectual testament to a remarkable mind, quirky, charming and irritating by turns, but always curious, open and intelligent. The book is also a treasure trove of information on unlikely topics. It is a year's read, and, at a penny a page on publication, it is good value. Karl Pearson (1857—1935) is one of the handful of founders of modern statistics, not only through his own ideas but also through the institutions he helped create and the students whom he taught. He had numerous historical hobbies, such as German folklore. He provided historical introductions to lectures early in his statistical career. Late in life he commenced the series of lectures on the history of statistics which have now been edited by E. S. Pearson. Naturally the notes for the lectures spanning twelve years overlapped a certain amount, but the editor has formed them into a coherent whole. He has omitted some work already published in Pearson's journal, Biometrika, and has also left out what seemed to be mere algebraic reworkings of standard works. (The entire lecture notes are available in the archives of University College, London.) E. S. Pearson has done a certain amount of checking, for his father's practice was, it seems, to get up the lectures week by week while reading the original texts. One would expect quite a few errors, but in fact the result of the Pearsons' labours is pretty accurate. The notes are here reproduced'from typescript. Since the pages have not been reduced and the quality of the reproduction is excellent, this makes for an easy if bulky read.