Introduction
Act I
Act II
Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
Wicksell in the middle
in the early days of Lund statistics
Georg Lindgren
Lund University
Mathematical Statistics Centenary 2015, May 12
Lindgren
Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
The actors
The plot
Pontus the defender
Carl the revolutionary
Lund 100 years ago
Two characters and the man in the middle
Lindgren
Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
The actors
The plot
Pontus the defender
Carl the revolutionary
Is statistics a science?
Gottfried Achenwall, 1748: Statistik
≈
Staatenkunde
Theodore Wittstein, 1867: Mathematische Statistik und deren
Anwendung ...
Karl Pearson, 1891: Statistics is a universal methodological science
married with probability and couched in the abstract language of
mathemathics; Judy Klein, ... A history of time series analysis
1662-1938, (1997)
Chancellor of the Swedish universities, 1907: Statistics, whose
importance as an independent science nowadays is commonly agreed
upon, ..., demands ... a much rmer position at our universities ... ...
utmost importance for society ... scientic study of statistics ...
needing such education.
But what science?
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
The actors
The plot
Pontus the defender
Carl the revolutionary
In the right corner:
Pontus Fahlbeck (1850-1923), professor in Lund in political science and
history (1889), political science and statistics (1902)
Statistics is a social science ONLY and the only EXACT social
science
Deals with masses of people and money
Statistical methods DO NOT EXIST
Numerical means to reach knowledge EXIST and are needed but
they are not statistics
Conservative, member First chamber of the Parliament = right
Very rich created Fahlbeckska stiftelsen and donated money for a
professor in Finland
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
The actors
The plot
Pontus the defender
Carl the revolutionary
In the left corner:
Carl Vilhelm Ludvig Charlier (1862-1934), professor in astronomy (1897)
Statistics is a tool to bring structure to data
Created stellar statistics computational sta, numerical calculators
Lectured/textbook in mathematical statistics (1905)
Statistics deals with masses of anything stars, eligible voters,
money, populations, rms, ...
(Mathematical) statistics is the tool that empowers the statistician to
draw conclusions from his statistical material ...
... just as necessary for the statistician as the knife is for the surgeon
radical liberal (member of Verdandi) = left
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
Ille faciet:
Sven in the centre
Sven Wicksell and astronomy
Statistics education in Lund
He, who did the job
Father: Economist Knut Wicksell, Fil lic in
Mathematics, Professor in Political economy
Mother: Anna Bugge, A woman ahead of
her time - the rst Swedish female diplomate, representative to the League of Nations in Geneva, suragette
Sons: Sven and Finn
Anna oclt Knut lf/ichsell med sina sdner Saen ocb Finn. Bilden tagen i901 i Lund t
samban
d
nze
d profess orsutndmningen.
lan sig talade de om den norska froken Bugge som bodde ihop med doce nt
Wicksell. Professor Hamilton som mest ldmna ovet en del av sin professur
till Knut var svalt viinlig. Hans grevinna, Hamilton var greve, frigade Knut
om han fortfarande holl pi sina rysliga id6er om att folk bara skall ha tre
"De
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
Sven in the centre
Sven Wicksell and astronomy
Statistics education in Lund
About Sven Dag Wicksell
"One day, more than 30 years ago, a young student entered
the mathematical auditorium in the main university building. He
was wearing sturdy marching boots. ... The September sun
glittered in his hair, youthful spirit radiated from his face. He
gave a vision of a Norwegian gut paa fjeldet i sol.
Thorild Dahlgren, 1939
Lindgren
Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
Sven in the centre
Sven Wicksell and astronomy
Statistics education in Lund
Sven Wicksell an astronomer turns statistician
Fil kand 1911 the same day as when his mother, Anna Bugge, nished
her Jur kand exam
Fil lic 1913 (examination in Astronomy) = course work completed = gives
the right to defend a thesis
PhD thesis 1915, May 5 (typical Stellar statistics):
The general characteristics of the frequency function of stellar movements :
as derived from the proper motions of the stars / by Sven D. Wicksell
Docent salary from 1916 imminent risk he escapes to Stockholm
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
Sven in the centre
Sven Wicksell and astronomy
Statistics education in Lund
Third world academic in Mathematical statistics
Eugeny Slutsky, Lecturer in
Mathematical statistics, Kiev,
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Sven Wicksell, Docent in
Mathematical statistics, Lund,
1915, May 12, by appointmet of
the Chancelor of the Swedish
4ta**,rn".
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universities
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
Sven in the centre
Sven Wicksell and astronomy
Statistics education in Lund
Formal programs
Wicksell set up formal study programs both in statistics and in
mathematical statistics
Statistics became a regular subject
1918
Mathematical
statistics
students
had to obtain special permission to
include the topic in an exam, became a regular subject 1961
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
From little to something
Wallengren
Wicksell
How ll the need for statistics in Lund?
1907: Need for statistics recognized by the government
1909: Also in Lund but best to wait to see what happens in Uppsala
1910: Gustav Sundbärg professor in Statistics in Uppsala
1912: Fahlbeck to retire soon should there be a Statistics professor?
1912: Fahlbeck statistics or Charlier statistics???
1913: Disagreement!
I History professor Clason: strong emphasis on mathematics will
jeopardise reqruitment
I Economist Knut Wicksell: Of course statistics must include
mathematical statistics
1914: Parliament says
NO to a professor in Lund too much quarrel
1915: Sigfrid Wallengren to replace Fahlbeck as professor in Political
science and statistics
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
From little to something
Wallengren
Wicksell
Sigfrid Wallengren (1876-1927)
New professor in political science and statistics 1915-1927
Had little time for statistics
Tage Erlander, Swedish prime minister 1946-1969, studied statistics
and mathematical statistics
How get time for an oral examination with Wallengren?
Wrote about Pontus Fahlbeck's view on statistics: To what extent he
was too strict to limit the use of higher mathematics in statistics ...
must be left to the debate of the specialists :
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Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
From little to something
Wallengren
Wicksell
Sven Wicksell professor in Statistics
1915-1925: Sven Wicksell responsible for statistics in Lund
1915-1927: Sigfrid Wallengren professor in ... and statistics
1926: Parliament gives money for a professor in statistics in Lund
Wicksell was summoned to the chair superior to any Swedish man
who could reasonably be considered for the position
1929: Department of Statistics established
1939: Wicksell dies, Carl-Erik Quensel new professor (1941)
1959: Gunnar Blom appointed to the dormant docent position in
Mathematicsl statistics
Lindgren
Fahlbeck vs. Charlier
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Introduction
Act I
Act II
From little to something
Wallengren
Wicksell
Some more details
Peter Guttorp & Georg Lindgren: Why distinguish between statistics and
mathematical statistics? The case of Swedish academia. (2015)
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