Karl Pearson

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Karl Pearson

Karl Pearson (born March 27, 1857 in London , † April 27, 1936 in Coldharbour , Surrey ) was a British mathematician . His son Egon Pearson (1895-1980) was also a statistician.

Academic work

Pearson studied mathematics at Cambridge and dealt intensively with philosophical and theological questions. Pearson used later stays in Heidelberg and Berlin to study physics , metaphysics and German literature . He was considered a specialist in a wide variety of branches of science (e.g. mathematics, physics, German literature, law , theology and history ). His scientific contribution to statistics made Pearson popular (see e.g. correlation coefficient ). He is also considered one of the great early pioneers of psychology .

After his death in 1978 he gave lectures on the history of statistics in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Eugenics and race theory

Pearson believed that a nation “must be a homogeneous whole, not a mixture of high quality and low quality races ”. He understood this as a scientific view of the phenomenon of the nation. A nation must ensure "the recruitment of its members [...] from the better breeding stock" and prove itself competitive, "mainly through wars with inferior races". Such views were not uncommon during Pearson's lifetime.

In the debate about immigration of Jews to Great Britain, Pearson positioned himself on the side of the opponents. Pearson came to the conclusion:

"The well-being of our own country is inextricably linked to the preservation and enhancement of its heritage , and our research does not show that this is compatible with the unrestricted admission of Jewish or all other types of immigrants."

Awards

In 1896 Pearson was elected as a member (" Fellow ") in the Royal Society , which in 1898 awarded him the Darwin Medal . In 1928 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1934 to the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

The asteroid (29458) Pearson was named after him.

Fonts

  • The Grammar of Science . Adam and Charles Black, London 1892. 3rd edition 1911
  • National Life from the Standpoint of Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1900. 2nd edition 1905.
  • On the purpose and significance of national eugenics for the state: 14th Robert Boyle Lecture, given at the Oxford University Junior Science Club on May 17, 1907 ; 1908

literature

  • Egon Sharp Pearson : Karl Pearson. An appreciation of some aspects of his life and work. Cambridge 1938.
  • Geoffrey McKay Morant, Bernard Lewis Welch: A bibliography of the statistical and other writings of Karl Pearson . Biometrika Office, University College, London Cambridge 1939.
  • Bernard Semmel: Karl Pearson. Socialist and Darwinist . In: The British journal of sociology . Backwell, Oxford. Volume 9, 1958, 2, pp. 111-125. ISSN  0007-1315
  • A list of the papers and correspondence of Karl Pearson (1857-1936) held in the Manuscripts Room University College London Library . Compiled by M. Merrington. Publications Office, University College London, London 1983.
  • Erhard Kiehnbaum: A previously unknown letter from Karl Marx . In: Marx-Engels-Jahrbuch 9 . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-320-00277-5 , pp. 305-310. Karl Marx to Karl Pearson February 15, 1881.
  • Theodore M. Porter : Karl Pearson: The Scientific Life in a Statistical Age. New Edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2006, ISBN 0-691-12635-6 .
  • Karl-Eugen Kurrer : The History of the Theory of Structures. Searching for Equilibrium , Ernst & Sohn 2018, p. 1042f (biography), ISBN 978-3-433-03229-9 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Pearson: National Life from the Standpoint of Science. Cambridge University Press, 1905, p. 50
  2. ^ Karl Pearson: National Life from the Standpoint of Science. Cambridge University Press, 1905, p. 46
  3. ^ Mosse, George L .: Racism: a disease symptom in European history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Athenäum Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1978.
  4. ↑ cf. K. Pearson, M. Moul: The Problem of Alien Immigration into Great Britain: Illustrated by an Examination of Russian an Polish Jewish Children. In: Annals of Eugenics. 1, 1925/1926, pp. 5-127
  5. ↑ K. Pearson, M. Moul: The Problem of Alien Immigration into Great Britain: Illustrated by an Examination of Russian an Polish Jewish Children. In: Annals of Eugenics. 1, 1925/1926, p. 127
  6. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed March 28, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Pearson, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pearson, Carl (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1936
Place of death Coldharbour , Surrey