Date: 2017-11-24

Time: 15:30-16:30

Location: LEA 232

Abstract:

As Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary, it may be good to reflect on the past and future of data analysis and statistics in this country. In this talk, I will review the Victorian Statistics Movement and its effect in Canada, data analysis by a Montréal physician in the 1850s, a controversy over data analysis in the 1850s and 60s centred in Montréal, John A. MacDonald’s use of statistics, the Canadian insurance industry and the use of statistics, the beginning of mathematical statistics in Canada, the Fisherian revolution, the influence of Fisher, Neyman and Pearson, the computer revolution, and the emergence of data science.

Speaker

David R. Bellhouse is Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Western University, London, Ontario. He is a leading world figure in statistical history.