I have just remembered that Florence Nightingale was one of the first
applied statisticians. I saw a documentary on the BBC, maybe an Open
University production, but cannot remember the context or the programme (it
was very late at night).
If I remember correctly she kept meticulous records and the Royal
Statistical Society at the time was concerned mainly with pure Statistics.
Her influence on the Society had significant impacts in moving towards
statistical applications.
It sounds very interesting and I would like to know more. I hope I have got
the gist of the facts right. Perhaps someone out there knows more or could
confirm this? I think it is significant that one of the founders of modern
nursing should be a prominent statistician and that this might help to
motivate and interest nursing students.
Steve Godwin
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