History of Statistics Essay Example for Free

History of Statistics Essay The history of statistics can be said to start around 1749 although, over time, there have been changes to the interpretation of the word statistics. By the 18th century, the term statistics designated the systematic collection ofdemographic and economic data by states. In the early 19th century, the meaning of statistics broadened to include the discipline concerned with the collection, summary, and analysis of data. Today statistics is widely employed in government, business, and all the sciences. Electronic computers have expedited statistical computation, and have allowed statisticians to develop computer-intensive methods. The Word statistics have been derived from Latin word â€Å"Status† or the Italian word â€Å"Statista†, meaning of these words is â€Å"Political State† or a Government. Shakespeare used a word Statist is his drama Hamlet (1602). In the past, the statistics was used by rulers. The application of statistics was very limited but rulers and kings needed information about lands, agriculture, commerce, population of their states to assess their military potential, their wealth, taxation and other aspects of government. Gottfried Achenwall used the word statistik at a German University in 1749 which means that political science of different countries. In 1771 W. Hooper (Englishman) used the word statistics in his translation of Elements of Universal Erudition written by Baron B.F Bieford, in his book statistics has been defined as the science that teaches us what is the political arrangement of all the modern states of the known world. There is a big gap between the old statistics and the modern statistics, but old statistics also used as a part of the present statistics. During the 18th century the English writer have used the word statistics in their works, so statistics has developed gradually during last few centuries. A lot of work has been done in the end of the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the 20th century, William S Gosset was developed the methods for decision making based on small set of data. During the 20th century several statistician are active in developing new methods, theories and application of statistics. Now these days the availability of electronics computers is certainly a major factor in the modern development of statistics. * Statistics helps in providing a better understanding and exact description of a phenomenon of nature. * Statistical helps in proper and efficient planning of a statistical inquiry in any field of study. * Statistical helps in collecting an appropriate quantitative data. * Statistics helps in presenting complex data in a suitable tabular, diagrammatic and graphic form for an easy and clear comprehension of the data. * Statistics helps in understanding the nature and pattern of variability of a phenomenon through quantitative obersevations. * Statistics helps in drawing valid inference, along with a measure of their reliability about the population parameters from the sample data. * Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and finance industries. * Biostatistics is a branch of biology that studies biological phenomena and observations by means of statistical analysis, and includes medical statistics. * Business analytics is a rapidly developing business process that applies statistical methods to data sets (often very large) to develop new insights and understanding of business performance opportunities * Chemometrics is the science of relating measurements made on a chemical system or process to the state of the system via application of mathematical or statistical methods. * Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population, that is, one that changes over time or space. * Econometrics is a branch of economics that applies statistical methods to the empirical study of economic theories and relationships. * Environmental statistics is the application of statistical methods to environmental science. Weather, climate, air and water quality are included, as are studies of plant and animal populations. * Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine. * Geostatistics is a branch of geography that deals with the analysis of data from disciplines such as petroleum geology,hydrogeology, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, geochemistry, geography. * Operations research (or Operational Research) is an interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and formal science that uses methods such as mathematical modeling, statistics, and algorithms to arrive at optimal or near optimal solutions to complex problems. * Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. * Psychometrics is the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits. * Quality control reviews the factors involved in manufacturing and production; it can make use of statistical sampling of product items to aid decisions in process control or in accepting deliveries. * Quantitative psychology is the science of statistically explaining and changing mental processes and behaviors in humans. * Statistical finance, an area of econophysics, is an empirical attempt to shift finance from its normative roots to a positivistframework using exemplars from statistical physics with an emphasis on emergent or collective properties of financial markets. * Statistical mechanics is the application of probability theory, which includes mathematical tools for dealing with large populations, to the field of mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or objects when subjected to a force. * Statistical physics is one of the fundamental theories of physics, and uses methods of probability theory in solving physical problems. * Statistical thermodynamics is the study of the microscopic behaviors of thermodynamic systems using probability theory and provides a molecular level interpretation of thermodynamic quantities such as work, heat, free energy, and entropy.

Saving Black Mesa :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Saving Black Mesa Works Cited Missing To the northeast part of Arizona lay a conflict between two indigenous groups from the surrounding area and the world’s largest coal company formerly known as Peabody Coal (now Peabody Energy). The Hopi and Navajo reservations surround a region known as Black Mesa. Black Mesa is located on both the Navajo and Hopi Reservations which is a target source for underground water called the N-aquifer. The N-aquifer contains a great amount of pristine Ice Age water. As time drew on, many indigenous people were alarmed that the water was carelessly being depleted from their land. Mining on Black Mesa should be stopped because the inhabitants are affected by Peabody, livestock in the area must depend on the local springs, groundwater is being depleted at an average of 3.3 million gallons per day, and the water is being contaminated (SBMW Online par 1). In the beginning, the Black Mesa region expanded from the Hopi Reservation in to Navajo borders. On the borderline between the Navajo and Hopi two were at constant disagreements over the claim of territory. Based on three Arizonan judges, the land was to be proclaimed as â€Å"Joint Use Area† which lasted 15 years from 1962 to 1977, between the two tribes. Still not content the two groups had bitter political feelings towards one another. In 1977 the land was divided by giving the Hopi tribe 900,000 acres, accounting for most of the land. Both tribes shared the mineral deposits and as little land as the Navajo tribe had acquired from the settlement, Hopi land in all is an island reservation surrounded by the Navajo Nation. Although having the Hopi at a major disadvantage, many of the Navajo people that lived all their lives in the present Hopi reservation had moved out (LUHNACP Online par 8). Although many people would insist that the Navajo and Hopi people had agreed to let Peabody mine their land, the problem is a little more complicated than what seems obvious. In 1966 a lawyer for the Hopi tribe by the name of John Boyden convinced several members of the Navajo tribe to start a council.

Mountain Pine Beetle Management

Adult Mountain Pine Beetles (MPBs) are known to bore into trees that are suitable for laying eggs in the tree's bark. Mature lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta Douglas var. latifolia Engelmann) from 80 to 120 years old are only some of the many trees infested and damaged by MPBs. Pine beetle problems such as tree infestation and damage occur when MPBs begin to settle in a tree and lay its eggs of 60 to 80. Canadian forests have experienced MPB infestation since previous years, with the area of British Columbia currently suffering from the largest pest outbreak in the history of Canada with over 7 million hectares infested in 2004. The region of Alberta has previously experienced two pest outbreaks: from 1940 to 1943 and from 1977 to 1985. However, there is an imminent threat of another MPB outbreak. Research identifies the threat as caused by the overwhelming abundance of susceptible pine forests located at the eastern slope of the Rockies. The MPB outbreak threat is also believed to expand from the pine forests to the boreal forests east of the Rocky Mountains. For this reason, Alberta is seeking measures to prevent another MPB outbreak from occurring. The primary goal is to reduce the number of susceptible pine trees from the infestation of pine beetles before the MPBs reach the region for the third time. An objective taken in Alberta so far is early identification of susceptible pine trees in order to control and preempt the event where there is already infestation. Some of the areas aimed at preempting an MPB outbreak include the national parks situated between Alberta and British Columbia, as well as public, private and municipal lands in Alberta. One of the measures taken is the removal of the susceptible prime brood producing stands. This step is designed to mitigate the probability of the growth of the MPB population. Once this step is already established, the growth of the MPB population is expected to slow down after which a direct control efforts on the MPB infestation will be applied. Estimates from aerial and ground surveys since August 2006 indicate a total of 2.8 million trees infested by the pine beetle. There are current efforts in Alberta in resolving the probable outbreak such as the efforts taken by the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development which detected and treated over a thousand infested trees, 98% of which were treated in 2002 to 2003. Economic estimates reveal that the impact of an MPB outbreak will greatly affect the wood and furniture industry. Possible solutions roughly include, but is not limited to, MPB mitigation efforts which are strategically planned and well-coordinated among land managers such as Parks Canada, First Nations, Alberta Community Development, the forest industry as well as the municipalities. In the event where there is already a rampant MPB outbreak, a salvage strategy will be applied by recovering dead and dying trees before the fiber is lost in order to obtain the pine trees which may still be of good use. The operation will be spearheaded by the government of Alberta in cooperation with the existing public and private organizations and concerned individuals through coordinated efforts. Constant monitoring and studies taken by the government teams for mitigating the probable and eventual MPB infestation will be applied alongside with the incorporation of efforts from private entities. References Mountain Pine Beetles in Your Backyard? from http://www.srd.gov.ab.ca/forests/health/mpb.html Ono, H. (2003). The Mountain Pine Beetle: Scope of the Problem and Key Issues in Alberta. Paper presented at the Mountain Pine Beetle Symposium: Challenges and Solutions. ;

Learning Styles and Skills