Florence Nightingale and Oxford Statistics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Florence Nightingale and Oxford Statistics Florence Nightingale’s inﬂuence on nursing is well known but her inﬂuence on the development and use of statistics is less familiar. Taught by her father, Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) showed a gift for mathematics from an early age, and studied the pioneering works on statistics by Adolphe Quetelet, one of the founders of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS). Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) & !e Royal Statistical Society "e RSS was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London, and Florence Nightingale became its !rst female member in 1858. She used statistical methods to analyse the mortality and medical data she had collected while nursing during the Crimean War (1853–6) and was a pioneer in the visual presentation of information and statistical graphics. She is credited with developing a form of the pie chart now known as the polar area diagram. Benjamin Jowett (1817–1893) Aer returning as an invalid from the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale met the reforming Master of Balliol, Benjamin Jowett, and continued a long correspondence with him !e Department of Statistics until he died in 1893. In 1874 aer the death of Quetelet she suggested that ‘the only !tting Sadly Jowett’s plan came to nothing, memorial to Q’ would be to ‘introduce his although a highly distinguished statistician, science in the studies of Oxford’. "ough no Francis Edgeworth, held the post of Professor mathematician, Jowett believed strongly in the of Political Economy in Oxford from 1891 to use of statistics in medicine and developed 1922. Oxford’s !rst Professor of Statistics was a plan for their joint endowment, supplemented appointed in 1948 within Social Studies, and by ‘begging of the rich people of the world’, in 1988 the Department of Statistics was of a Professorship of Statistics at Oxford. established within the Faculty of Mathematics..

Copy Link

Recommended publications

The Unified Theory of Meaning Emergence Mike Taylor RN, MHA
The Unified Theory of Meaning Emergence Mike Taylor RN, MHA, CDE Author Unaffiliated Nursing Theorist [email protected] Member of the Board – Plexus Institute Specialist in Complexity and Health Lead designer – The Commons Project, a web based climate change intervention My nursing theory book, “Nursing, Complexity and the Science of Compassion”, is currently under consideration by Springer Publishing 1 Introduction Nursing science and theory is unique among the scientific disciplines with its emphasis on the human-environment relationship since the time of Florence Nightingale. An excellent review article in the Jan-Mar 2019 issue of Advances in Nursing Science, explores the range of nursing thought and theory from metaparadigms and grand theories to middle range theories and identifies a common theme. A Unitary Transformative Person-Environment-Health process is both the knowledge and the art of nursing. This type of conceptual framework is both compatible with and informed by complexity science and this theory restates the Human-Environment in a complexity science framework. This theory makes a two-fold contribution to the science of nursing and health, the first is in the consolidation and restatement of already successful applications of complexity theory to demonstrate commonalities in adaptive principles in all systems through a unified definition of process. Having a unified theoretical platform allows the application of the common process to extend current understanding and potentially open whole new areas for exploration and intervention. Secondly, the theory makes a significant contribution in tying together the mathematical and conceptual frameworks of complexity when most of the literature on complexity in health separate them (Krakauer, J., 2017).
[Show full text]
A Light in the Darkness: Florence Nightingale's Legacy
A Light in the Darkness: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE’S LEGACY Florence Nightingale, a pioneer of nursing, was born on May 12, 1820. In celebration of her 200th birthday, the World Health Organization declared 2020 the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife.” It's now clear that nurses and health care providers of all kinds face extraordinary circumstances this year. Nightingale had a lasting inﬂuence on patient care that's apparent even today. Nightingale earned the nickname “the Lady with the Lamp” because she checked on patients at night, which was rare at the time and especially rare for head nurses to do. COURTESY OF THE WELLCOME COLLECTION When Florence Nightingale was growing up in England in the early 19th century, nursing was not yet a respected profession. It was a trade that involved little training. Women from upper-class families like hers were not expected to handle strangers’ bodily functions. She deﬁed her family because she saw nursing as a calling. Beginning in 1854, Nightingale led a team of nurses in the Crimean War, stationed in present-day Turkey. She saw that the overcrowded, stuffy hospital with an overwhelmed sewer system was leading to high death rates. She wrote to newspapers back home, inspiring the construction of a new hospital. In celebration of: Brought to you by: Nightingale, who wrote several books on hospital and nursing practice, is often portrayed with a letter or writing materials. COURTESY OF THE WELLCOME COLLECTION A REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH After the war, Nightingale founded the Nightingale created Nightingale Training School at cutting-edge charts, like this one, which displayed the St.
[Show full text]
An African 'Florence Nightingale' a Biography
An African 'Florence Nightingale' a biography of: Chief (Dr) Mrs Kofoworola Abeni Pratt OFR, Hon. LLD (Ife), Teacher's Dip., SRN, SCM, Ward Sisters' Cert., Nursing Admin. Cert., FWACN, Hon. FRCN, OSTJ, Florence Nightingale Medal by Dr Justus A. Akinsanya, B.Sc. (Hons) London, Ph.D. (London) Reader in Nursing Studies Dorset Institute of Higher Education, U.K. VANTAGE PUBLISHERS' LTD. IBADAN, NIGERIA Table of Contents © Dr Justus A. Akinsanya 1987 All rights reserved. Acknowledgements lX No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans Preface Xl mitted, in any formor by any means, without prior per mission from the publishers. CHAPTERS I. The Early Years 1 First published 1987 2. Marriage and Family Life 12 3. The Teaching Profession 26 4. The Nursing Profession 39 Published by 5. Life at St Thomas' 55 VANTAGE PUBLISHERS (INT.) LTD., 6. Establishing a Base for a 98A Old Ibadan Airport, Career in Nursing 69 P. 0. Box 7669, 7. The University College Hospital, Secretariat, Ibadan-Nigeria's Premier Hospital 79 Ibadan. 8. Progress in Nursing: Development of Higher Education for Nigerian Nurses 105 9. Towards a Better Future for 123 ISBN 978 2458 18 X (limp edition) Nursing in Nigeria 145 ISBN 978 2458 26 0 (hardback edition) 10. Professional Nursing in Nigeria 11. A Lady in Politics 163 12. KofoworolaAbeni - a Lady of many parts 182 Printed by Adeyemi Press Ltd., Ijebu-Ife, Nigeria. Appendix 212 Index 217 Dedicated to the memory of the late Dr Olu Pratt Acknowledge1nents It is difficult in a few lines to thank all those who have contributed to this biography.
[Show full text]
Tracing Objects of Measurement: Locating Intersections of Race, Science and Politics at Stellenbosch University
TRACING OBJECTS OF MEASUREMENT: LOCATING INTERSECTIONS OF RACE, SCIENCE AND POLITICS AT STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY Handri Walters Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Professor Kees (C.S.) van der Waal Co-Supervisor: Professor Steven Robins March 2018 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za i Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za DECLARATION By submitting this thesis electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. March 2018 Copyright © 2018 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved i Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ABSTRACT This study departs from a confrontation with a collection of ‘scientific’ objects employed at Stellenbosch University in various ways from 1925 to 1984. Eugen Fischer’s Haarfarbentafel (hair colour table), Rudolf Martin’s Augenfarbentafel (eye colour table) and Felix von Luschan’s Hautfarbentafel (skin colour table) - a collection later joined by an anatomically prepared human skull - are employed in this study as vessels for
[Show full text]
Using Groups Statistics to Sentence Individual Criminals: an Ethical and Statistical Critique of the Virginia Risk Assessment Program Brian Netter
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 97 Article 1 Issue 3 Spring Spring 2007 Using Groups Statistics to Sentence Individual Criminals: An Ethical and Statistical Critique of the Virginia Risk Assessment Program Brian Netter Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Brian Netter, Using Groups Statistics to Sentence Individual Criminals: An Ethical and Statistical Critique of the Virginia Risk Assessment Program, 97 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 699 (2006-2007) This Criminal Law is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. 0091-4169107/9703-0699 TIm, JOURNALOF CRIMINAL LAW& CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 97, No. 3 Copyright © 2007 by Northwestem University, School of Law Printed inU.S.A. CRIMINAL LAW USING GROUP STATISTICS TO SENTENCE INDIVIDUAL CRIMINALS: AN ETHICAL AND STATISTICAL CRITIQUE OF THE VIRGINIA RISK ASSESSMENT PROGRAM BRIAN NETTER* Virginia's program of nonviolent offender risk assessment uses predictions of recidivism to recommend which felons should be incarcerated. Unlike many sentencing schemes that rely upon the severity of the offense and the offender's criminal history, Viginia's depends on a statistical study commissioned by the legislature that purports to match offender characteristics with future behavior. New offenders are given recidivism "scores" that depend on gender, employment status, marital status, and age-all factors seemingly unrelated to the criminal conduct itself This Essay criticizes the Virginia approach as ethically suspect and mathematically unsound and calls for greater public discourse as to the hidden assumptions underlying the sentencing apparatus.
[Show full text]
Elizabeth F. Lewis Phd Thesis
PETER GUTHRIE TAIT NEW INSIGHTS INTO ASPECTS OF HIS LIFE AND WORK; AND ASSOCIATED TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS Elizabeth Faith Lewis A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2015 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6330 This item is protected by original copyright PETER GUTHRIE TAIT NEW INSIGHTS INTO ASPECTS OF HIS LIFE AND WORK; AND ASSOCIATED TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS ELIZABETH FAITH LEWIS This thesis is submitted in partial fulﬁlment for the degree of Ph.D. at the University of St Andrews. 2014 1. Candidate's declarations: I, Elizabeth Faith Lewis, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 59,000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2010 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in September 2010; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2010 and 2014. Signature of candidate ...................................... Date .................... 2. Supervisor's declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulﬁlled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D.
[Show full text]
Facts About Florence Nightingale
FACTS ABOUT FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE • Born in Florence, Italy, on May 12th, 1820 (named for the city) to an affluent British family • Nightingale was active in philanthropy as a child, and believed nursing to be her “divine purpose” (Biography.com, Background and early life section). NURSING EDUCATION AND BEGINNING CAREER • Enrolled at the nursing program at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany in 1850-1851. • Found employment at the Harley Street hospital as a nurse, and was soon promoted to superintendent all in 1853 (Biography.com, Background and early life section). • Her parents viewed her career choice as unwise, given her social position and the expectation that she might “marry a man of means to ensure her class standing.” DID YOU KNOW? Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer. She was also a pioneer in data visualization with the use of infographics, effectively using graphical presentations of statistical data. (Bostridge, Mark, 17 February 2011) Painting of Nightingale by Photograph of Nightingale Augustus Egg, c. 1840s by Kilburn, c. 1854 CRIMEAN WAR • In October 1853, the Crimean War broke out between the Turks and Russia, which eventually involved England and France in the spring of 1854. As the English and French sent their troops to Turkey as allies, there was a need for a mobile nursing unit to accompany them and handle the outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, and other serious disorders – as well as treat those who had succumbed to battle injuries. • Florence Nightingale was asked to lead a volunteer group of nurses to Scutari, which was the Greek name for a district in Istanbul.
[Show full text]
Florence Nightingale's Legacy: Caring, Compassion, Health, and Healing
Florence Nightingale’s Legacy: Caring, Compassion, Health, and Healing Across Cultures for the 21st Century — Local to Global Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, HWNC-BC Director, International Nurse Coach Association (INCA) International Co-Director, Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) September 29, 2017 14th Annual Caring Across Cultures Conference Kramer School of Nursing Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma Objectives 1. Explore Florence Nightingale’s legacy (1820-1910) of caring, compassion, healing, and advocacy across cultures for 21st– century nursing and healthcare—local to global. 2. Discuss the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and relevance for nurses, Interprofessional colleagues, and concerned citizens. 3. Explore ANA’s Healthy Nurse Healthy NationTM Grand Challenge and the five domains. 4. Examine the Theory of Integral Nursing and the integral, holistic and integrative paradigms and application for a healthy world. 5. Examine the Integrative Health and Wellness Assessment (IHWA). 6. Explore your ‘Reason for Being’. Source: http://www.nighvision.net/why-nigh-why-now.html Objective 1: Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) Legacy Frances Nightingale with daughters Florence (in lap, age 4) and Parthe (age 6) © 1824) Photo Source: National Trust London William Edward Nightingale © 1870 Source: Courtauld Institute Gallery, London Florence, age 19, seated Parthe, age 21, standing © 1839 Source: National Portrait Gallery London Florence, age 15, right & Aunt Mai Smith, leaning with her two daughters.© 1835 Photo Source; Hampshire County Record Office, Winchester, UK Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, England Nightingale summer home Photo Source: Barbara Dossey Embley Park, Romsey, Hampshire, England Nightingale main residence Photo Source: Barbara Dossey At 17, Nightingale heard a ‘call from God’ to ‘become a nurse’ while sitting under the Cedars of Lebanon at Embley Park Photo Source: Barbara Dossey Richard Monckton Milnes, age 33 © 1842 Photo Source: National Portrait Gallery London She was much more than the Nightingale we thought we knew.
[Show full text]
Adolphe Quetelet and the Development of Economic
Adolphe Quetelet, the Average Man and the Development of Economic Methodology1 Bert Mosselmans2 Abstract Quetelet's contribution to statistics has received adequate attention in Stigler (1986, 1999) and Porter's (1986) seminal works on the history of that scientific discipline.3 Our contribution investigates Quetelet's influence on economic methodology. Other scholars have already investigated his influence on econometrics and empirical economics (Morgan 1990, Stigler 1999), but we argue that his influence on theoretical economics should be considered significant as well. We devote attention to Quetelet’s concept of the ‘average man’. For this purpose we briefly summarize Quetelet's methodology and examine the evolution of his ideas as expressed in his published works. We then investigate his influence on classical political economy, on Jevons’s ‘calculus of pleasures and pains’ and on the debates of the ‘Methodenstreit’. We conclude with some considerations on contemporary discussions in macroeconomics about the ‘representative individual’. We argue that the history of statistics, and especially Quetelet's contribution, should not be neglected by historians of economic thought as it provides important insights into the development of economic methodology. 1 Previous versions of this paper have been presented at the meeting of the Dutch-Flemish Society of the History of Economic Thought, 7 December 2001, Antwerp; at the 29th Meeting of the History of Economics Society, Davis CA, 5-8 July 2002; and at lunch seminars in Antwerp and Bristol. I would like to thank Christos Baloglou, Tony Brewer, Edmund Cannon, Annie Cot, Guido Erreygers, Charles Figuieres, Pat Gunning, Albert Jolink, Mary Morgan, Wilfried Parys, Renee Prendergast and Michael V.
[Show full text]
BU-581-M.Pdf (1.982Mb)
ADOLPHE QUETELI'r, P'ATUEB. OF UODERN STATISTICS! 'l'homas S. Graves BU-581-l'i lfay 1976 Abstract A brief history of statistics up untU 1820 is presented, along with a quick sketch of the clevel.Dpment of the normal distribution an4 the laws . of large numbers before 1820. 'lhen a biography of Adolphe QUetelet is given and it is shown how be combined the art of statistics with the theory of probabil'ity to form the science of statistics. His other contributions to statistics are also listed. Iiitrocluction 'l'he purpose of this paper is twofold. First a brief history of statis tics up to 1820 wUl be given, along with a quick sketch of the development of the laws of large numbers and the normal distribution. Secondly, a .JJ:,v; '· biography of Adolphe Quetelet with the emphasis on his achievements in sta- .. ; -~, . tistics will be presented. It will be shown how he canbiDed what was then called statistics with probability theory to develop what-we today call statistics. For this reason, Quetelet is often refel'red to as the father of modern statistics. He was also influential in the standardization of international statistics, helped to promote the use of statistical fJlethodol- ogy in other fields of science which rely upon observational data and laid the groundwork for modern sociology. He changed the role of the statistician . .. from that of artisan, gathering data and maltin& official tables to that of scien- tist1 seeking out the laws of nature. -2- ,_ .. ' Historx of Statistics , The practice of recording the numerical quantities which make up the state goes back to the very origins of recorded his tory.
[Show full text]
Obal, D., Wadhwa, A. the Obesity Paradox
The obesity paradox: does it exist in the perioperative period? Detlef Obal, MD, PhD, DESAa,b,c, Anupama Wadhwa, MBBS, MSc, FASAc,d At least 30% of the surgical population consists of patients who hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, and an increased risk of fulfill the definition of obesity, mirroring the obesity epidemic in thrombosis and inflammation, leading to higher mortality rates.7 – the general population in the United States.1 3 Nearly 74% of the However, neither BMI nor waist circumference reflects the participants in the American College of Surgeons National metabolic and inflammatory profiles of the patient. Therefore, a Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) had an abnor- new definition of obesity was introduced emphasizing the term mally high body mass index (BMI), including 17% of patients adiposopathy and acknowledging individual body fat composi- younger than 18 years of age.4,5 This development is of particular tion and functionality.8 According to the definition of adiposo- concern as obesity is associated with an increased risk of meta- pathy, 4 different types of phenotypes are distinguished as bolic syndrome, hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), follows: and diabetes mellitus. However, physicians, nutritionists, and the (1) Normal weight obese (NWO). general public struggle with definitions of obesity based only on (2) Metabolically obese with normal weight (MONW). total body weight proportionate to height and, therefore, BMI. (3) Metabolically healthy obese (MHO). This leads to the question of whether BMI can adequately (4) Metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) or “at risk” obese describe the physical condition of and potential risks in our patients suffering from complications directly related to patients.
[Show full text]
Public Recognition and Media Coverage of Mathematical Achievements
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics Volume 9 | Issue 2 July 2019 Public Recognition and Media Coverage of Mathematical Achievements Juan Matías Sepulcre University of Alicante Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Sepulcre, J. "Public Recognition and Media Coverage of Mathematical Achievements," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 9 Issue 2 (July 2019), pages 93-129. DOI: 10.5642/ jhummath.201902.08 . Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol9/iss2/8 ©2019 by the authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. JHM is an open access bi-annual journal sponsored by the Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences and published by the Claremont Colleges Library | ISSN 2159-8118 | http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/ The editorial staff of JHM works hard to make sure the scholarship disseminated in JHM is accurate and upholds professional ethical guidelines. However the views and opinions expressed in each published manuscript belong exclusively to the individual contributor(s). The publisher and the editors do not endorse or accept responsibility for them. See https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/policies.html for more information. Public Recognition and Media Coverage of Mathematical Achievements Juan Matías Sepulcre Department of Mathematics, University of Alicante, Alicante, SPAIN [email protected] Synopsis This report aims to convince readers that there are clear indications that society is increasingly taking a greater interest in science and particularly in mathemat- ics, and thus society in general has come to recognise, through diﬀerent awards, privileges, and distinctions, the work of many mathematicians.
[Show full text]