Douglas Bates wrote: >On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 8:25 AM, Duncan Murdoch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >>On 3/3/2008 9:10 AM, Rogers, James A [PGRD Groton] wrote: >> > As someone of partly French heritage, I would also ask how this >> > distribution came to be called "Gaussian". It seems very unfair to de >> > Moivre, who discovered the distribution at least half a century earlier. >> > :-) >> >> Just an example of Stigler's Law. >> >> > >Taking this to a whole new level of "off topic", I wonder if Stigler's >Law is self-referential? That is, should Stigler's Law more correctly >be attributed to someone else? > >
No. If Stigler's Law were named after some prior person, then it wouldn't be an example of itself. Pat > > >> > On Mar 2, 2008, at 7:33 AM, (Ted Harding) wrote: >> > >> >> Hi Folks, >> >> Apologies to anyone who'd prefer not to see this query >> >> on this list; but I'm asking because it is probably the >> >> forum where I'm most likely to get a good answer! >> >> >> >> I'm interested in the provenance of the name "normal >> >> distribution" (for what I'd really prefer to call the >> >> "Gaussian" distribution). >> >> >> >> According to Wikipedia, "The name "normal distribution" >> >> was coined independently by Charles S. Peirce, Francis >> >> Galton and Wilhelm Lexis around 1875." >> >> >> >> So be it, if that was the case -- but I would like to >> >> know why they chose the name "normal": what did they >> >> intend to convey? >> >> >> >> As background: I'm reflecting a bit on the usage in >> >> statistics of "everyday language" as techincal terms, >> >> as in "significantly different". This, for instance, >> >> is likely to be misunderstood by the general publidc >> >> when they encounter statements in the media. >> >> >> >> Likewise, "normally distributed" would probably be >> >> interpreted as "distributed in the way one would >> >> normally expect" or, perhaps, "there was nothing >> >> unusual about the distribution." >> >> >> >> Comments welcome! >> >> With thanks, >> >> Ted. >> >> >> > >> > ______________________________________________ >> > R-help@r-project.org mailing list >> > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >> > PLEASE do read the posting guide >> > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >> > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-help@r-project.org mailing list >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >> >> >> > >______________________________________________ >R-help@r-project.org mailing list >https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > > > > ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.