The Origins of Cyberspace collection described as lots 1-255 will first be offered as a single lot, subject to a reserve price. If this price is not reached, the collection will be immediately offered as individual lots as described in the catalogue as lots 1-255.
SIMPSON, Thomas (1710-1761). "On the advantage of taking the mean of a number of observations, in practical astronomy." In Philosophical Transactions 49, part 1 (1755): 82-93. London: L. Davis & C. Reymers, 1756.
Details
SIMPSON, Thomas (1710-1761). "On the advantage of taking the mean of a number of observations, in practical astronomy." In Philosophical Transactions 49, part 1 (1755): 82-93. London: L. Davis & C. Reymers, 1756.
4o. 11 folding engraved plates, text illustrations. Modern quarter morocco, marbled boards in period style.
Simpson's astronomical paper is a milestone in statistical inference, as well as the earliest formal treatment of any data-processing practice. Simpson was the first to attempt a mathematical proof of the law of large numbers i.e. that the mean result of several observations is nearer to the truth than any single observation. A key feature of the paper was that Simpson chose to focus "not on the observations themselves. . . but on the errors made in the observations, on the differences between the recorded observations and the actual position of the body being observed . . . .[This]was the critical step that was to open the door to an applicable quantification of uncertainty" (Stigler 1986, 90-91). "Simpson was the first to characterize the errors in observations an independent events, taking positive and negative values with equal probabilities, and the first to provide a mathematical expression for the probability that the error in the mean result will lie between assigned limits." (Todhunter 1993, 309). OOC 16.
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Simpson's astronomical paper is a milestone in statistical inference, as well as the earliest formal treatment of any data-processing practice. Simpson was the first to attempt a mathematical proof of the law of large numbers i.e. that the mean result of several observations is nearer to the truth than any single observation. A key feature of the paper was that Simpson chose to focus "not on the observations themselves. . . but on the errors made in the observations, on the differences between the recorded observations and the actual position of the body being observed . . . .[This]was the critical step that was to open the door to an applicable quantification of uncertainty" (Stigler 1986, 90-91). "Simpson was the first to characterize the errors in observations an independent events, taking positive and negative values with equal probabilities, and the first to provide a mathematical expression for the probability that the error in the mean result will lie between assigned limits." (Todhunter 1993, 309). OOC 16.
Further details
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