Description |
368 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
Contents |
Introduction: Arguing from Social Facts -- 1. Prefects and Geometers -- 2. Judges and Astronomers -- 3. Averages and the Realism of Aggregates -- 4. Correlation and the Realism of Causes -- 5. Statistics and the State: France and Great Britain -- 6. Statistics and the State: Germany and the United States -- 7. The Part for the Whole: Monographs or Representative Samplings -- 8. Classifying and Encoding -- 9. Modeling and Adjusting -- Conclusion: Disputing the Indisputable |
Summary |
In this study of the history of statistics, which begins with probability theory in the seventeenth century, Alain Desrosieres shows how the evolution of modern statistics has been inextricably bound up with the knowledge and power of governments. He traces the complex reciprocity between modern governments and the mathematical artifacts that both dictate the duties of the state and measure its successes |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references pages 343-357 and index |
Notes |
Translated from the French |
Subject |
Statistical services -- History.
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|
Statistics -- History.
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LC no. |
98003199 |
ISBN |
0674689321 |
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