I fully agree that some of the personal bits of history for these people can 'humanize' the equations. It is nice, and usually gets a chuckle, that we now know that the Student t test came out of experience at Guinness.
Fisher's impact on genetics is clearly of value to those interested in the subject. That he also participated in the developing debate (early 1950's) on the link of cancer and cigarette smoking impressed the heck out of me when I learned it. As an example of use of statistics in the modern world I would think it an excellent mini-case history. At least if you believe S. J. Gould's take on it. Could that link to current social and business cases involving arguments around statistically resolvable issues? How do we set the maximum permitted lead level in drinking water, and what are the business and social issues involved? On what basis does the US EPA decide that air pollution alerts should be made at 80 instead of 100 ppb? I'm sure there are more local versions of these questions enough for everyone. Jay Warren wrote: > Hello, > I've been reading a little about Fisher and the Eugenics movement. In > talking to my class about Gossett's t and Fisher's F distribution, I > presented a little bit of the controversy surrounding Fisher and > Eugenics. I assigned one of Fisher's papers in which he talks a > little about Social Darwinism. > > It bombed, but quietly. The question "Is this going to be on the > test?" seems to be the only motivator for taking in information. I > was probably that way too. > > What are your opinions about including a little of the History of > Statistics? If so, should we test these areas in a first year > graduate course? Should we include a little bit of discussion on > Ethics in these courses? Especially the Ethics of using Statistics? > > Warren May > University of Mississippi Medical Center -- Jay Warner Principal Scientist Warner Consulting, Inc. 4444 North Green Bay Road Racine, WI 53404-1216 USA Ph: (262) 634-9100 FAX: (262) 681-1133 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.a2q.com The A2Q Method (tm) -- What do you want to improve today? . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
