The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900 [Book Review]

The two most essential tools for modem mathematical statistics-the "method of least squares" and the "normal" curve-were developed by the second decade of the 19th century. Yet the great intellectual synthesis that turned statistics into an academic discipline with a pervasive impact on society was not accomplished until the end of the century. How the synthesis came about, and why it took so long, is the chief puzzle that both of these books seek to solve.