History of Statistics
History and Development of Statistics
Simple forms of statistics have been used since the beginning of civilization, when pictorial representations or other symbols were used to record numbers of people, animals, and inanimate objects on skins, slabs, or sticks of wood and the walls of caves. Before 3000 BC theBabylonians used small clay tablets to record tabulations of agricultural yields and of commodities bartered or sold. The Egyptians analyzed the population and material wealth of their country before beginning to build the pyramids in the 31st century bc. The biblical books of Numbers and 1 Chronicles are primarily statistical works, the former containing two separatecensuses of the Israelites and the latter describing the material wealth of various Jewish tribes.Similar numerical records existed in China before 2000 BC. The ancient Greeks held censuses to be used as bases for taxation as early as 594 BC.The Roman Empire was the first government to gather extensive data about the population, area,and wealth of the territories that it controlled. During the Middle Ages in Europe fewcomprehensive censuses were made. The Carolingian kings Pepin the Short and Charlemagneordered surveys of ecclesiastical holdings: Pepin in 758 and Charlemagne in 762. Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William I, king of England, ordered a census to be taken;the information gathered in this census, conducted in 1086, was recorded in the DOMESDAYBOOK.Some scholars pinpoint the origin of statistics to 1662, with the publication of Natural andPolitical Observations upon the Bills of Mortality by John Graunt. Early applications of statistical thinking revolved around the needs of states to base policy on demographic andeconomic data, hence its stat- etymology.
The scope of the discipline of statistics broadened inthe early 19th century to include the collection and analysis of data in general. Today, statistics iswidely employed in government, business, and the
Simple forms of statistics have been used since the beginning of civilization, when pictorial representations or other symbols were used to record numbers of people, animals, and inanimate objects on skins, slabs, or sticks of wood and the walls of caves. Before 3000 BC theBabylonians used small clay tablets to record tabulations of agricultural yields and of commodities bartered or sold. The Egyptians analyzed the population and material wealth of their country before beginning to build the pyramids in the 31st century bc. The biblical books of Numbers and 1 Chronicles are primarily statistical works, the former containing two separatecensuses of the Israelites and the latter describing the material wealth of various Jewish tribes.Similar numerical records existed in China before 2000 BC. The ancient Greeks held censuses to be used as bases for taxation as early as 594 BC.The Roman Empire was the first government to gather extensive data about the population, area,and wealth of the territories that it controlled. During the Middle Ages in Europe fewcomprehensive censuses were made. The Carolingian kings Pepin the Short and Charlemagneordered surveys of ecclesiastical holdings: Pepin in 758 and Charlemagne in 762. Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William I, king of England, ordered a census to be taken;the information gathered in this census, conducted in 1086, was recorded in the DOMESDAYBOOK.Some scholars pinpoint the origin of statistics to 1662, with the publication of Natural andPolitical Observations upon the Bills of Mortality by John Graunt. Early applications of statistical thinking revolved around the needs of states to base policy on demographic andeconomic data, hence its stat- etymology.
The scope of the discipline of statistics broadened inthe early 19th century to include the collection and analysis of data in general. Today, statistics iswidely employed in government, business, and the