DOCSLIB.ORG

Units of Analysis in Geographic Criminology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Units of Analysis in Geographic Criminology Putting Crime in its Place Putting Crime in its Place Units of Analysis in Geographic Criminology Edited by David Weisburd Institute of Criminology Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel and Department of Administration of Justice George Mason University, Manassas, VA USA Wim Bernasco Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) Leiden, The Netherlands and Gerben J.N. Bruinsma Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) Leiden, The Netherlands and Department of Criminology Leiden University, The Netherlands 123 Editors David Weisburd Wim Bernasco Institute of Criminology Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime Hebrew University, Jerusalem and Law Enforcement (NSCR) Israel Leiden, The Netherlands and [email protected] Department of Administration of Justice George Mason University Manassas, VA USA [email protected] Gerben J.N. Bruinsma Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) Leiden, The Netherlands and Department of Criminology Leiden University The Netherlands [email protected] ISBN 978-0-387-09687-2 (hardcover) e-ISBN 978-0-387-09688-9 ISBN 978-1-4419-0973-2 (softcover) DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-09688-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009931093 c Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com Preface This book is about the unit of analysis in studies of crime and place. The quick expansion of this field demands a reflection on what the units of its analysis are and should be. Crime analysts working for the police or government are confronted routinely now with the dilemma of identifying what the unit of analysis should be when reporting on trends in crime or crime hot spots, or when mapping crime and drug problems in cities. Also, in the field of policing new developments can be observed in place-based policing instead of offender-based policing in which the choice of the level of aggregation plays a critical role. We hope that this volume will contribute to crime and place studies by making explicit the problems involved in choosing units of analysis in the criminology of place or in crime mapping. Although the chapters have been written by experts in the field, the book has not been written for experts only. Those who are involved in the practice of crime mapping and academic researchers studying the spatial distri- butions of crime and victimization can learn from the arguments and tools presented in this volume. The book is the result of a three-day workshop on the unit of analysis held in September 2006 at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) in Leiden, the Netherlands. At the workshop, all participants presented the first drafts of their papers and others commented on them in the following discussions. After rewriting, all the papers were subsequently reviewed (single-blind) by three other workshop participants and by us, the editors. Besides the authors of the volume, we would like to thank Lieven Pauwels of Ghent University, Belgium; Danielle Reynald, Margit Averdijk, and Henk Elffers of the NSCR for their time and efforts to review the papers. We owe George Tita and Robert Greenbaum credit for borrowing a variation on the subtitle of their paper as the main title of the whole volume. We also want to thank the NSCR for organizing and financing the workshop at Leiden, and the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research for additional funding. At the NSCR, Ariena van Poppel, Jorgen¨ de Gooijer, and Soemintra Jaghai helped to v vi Preface organize the workshop smoothly and supplied support when necessary. Lastly, we are grateful to Welmoed Spahr of Springer who supported us from the beginning and managed the production process. Israel and USA David Weisburd The Netherlands Wim Bernasco The Netherlands Gerben J.N. Bruinsma Contents Part I Introduction 1 Units of Analysis in Geographic Criminology: Historical Development, Critical Issues, and Open Questions ................. 3 David Weisburd, Gerben J.N. Bruinsma, and Wim Bernasco Part II What Is the Appropriate Level of Investigation of Crime at Place? Theoretical and Methodological Issues 2 Why Small Is Better: Advancing the Study of the Role of Behavioral Contexts in Crime Causation .................................... 35 Dietrich Oberwittler and Per-Olof H. Wikstrom¨ 3 Where the Action Is at Places: Examining Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Juvenile Crime at Places Using Trajectory Analysis and GIS....................................................... 61 Elizabeth Groff, David Weisburd, and Nancy A. Morris 4 Crime Analysis at Multiple Scales of Aggregation: A Topological Approach ..................................................... 87 Patricia L. Brantingham, Paul J. Brantingham, Mona Vajihollahi, and Kathryn Wuschke 5 Geographical Units of Analysis and the Analysis of Crime ..........109 George F. Rengert and Brian Lockwood 6 Waves, Particles, and Crime .....................................123 Michael D. Maltz vii viii Contents Part III Empirical Examples of Crime Place Studies: What Can We Learn? 7 Crime, Neighborhoods, and Units of Analysis: Putting Space in Its Place .........................................................145 George E. Tita and Robert T. Greenbaum 8 Predictive Mapping of Crime by ProMap: Accuracy, Units of Analysis, and the Environmental Backcloth .......................171 Shane D. Johnson, Kate J. Bowers, Dan J. Birks, and Ken Pease 9 Urban Streets as Micro Contexts to Commit Violence ..............199 Johan van Wilsem 10 Determining How Journeys-to-Crime Vary: Measuring Inter- and Intra-Offender Crime Trip Distributions .....................217 William Smith, John W. Bond, and Michael Townsley About the Authors ..................................................237 Index .............................................................245 Contributors Wim Bernasco Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Leiden, The Netherlands, [email protected] Daniel J. Birks School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, d.birks@griffith.edu.au John W. Bond Northamptonshire Police, and University of Leicester, United Kingdom, [email protected] Kate J. Bowers UCL Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, London, United Kingdom, [email protected] Paul J. Brantingham Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada, [email protected] Patricia L. Brantingham Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada, [email protected] Gerben J.N. Bruinsma Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, Leiden, and Department of Criminology, Leiden University, The Netherlands, [email protected] Robert T. Greenbaum John Glenn School of Public Affairs and Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, [email protected] Elizabeth Groff Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA, [email protected] ix x Contributors Shane D. Johnson UCL Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, London, United Kingdom, [email protected] Brian Lockwood Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA, [email protected] Michael D. Maltz Criminal Justice Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, and University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, USA, [email protected] Nancy A. Morris Crime, Delinquency and Corrections Center, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA, [email protected] Dietrich Oberwittler Department of Criminology, Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany, and University of Freiburg, Germany, [email protected] Ken Pease UCL Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, London, and University of Loughborough and Chester University, United Kingdom, [email protected] George F. Rengert Department of Criminal Justice, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA, [email protected] William Smith Thames Valley Police, United Kingdom, [email protected] George E. Tita Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of California – Irvine, CA, USA, [email protected] Michael Townsley School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, m.townsley@griffith.edu.au Mona Vajihollahi Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada, [email protected] David Weisburd Institute of Criminology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, and Department of Administration of Justice, George Mason University, Manassas, VA, USA, [email protected] Contributors xi Per-Olof H. Wikstrom¨ Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, [email protected]
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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]
  • Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime and Communities
    THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS This PDF is available at http://nap.edu/24928 SHARE Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime and Communities DETAILS 408 pages | 6 x 9 | PAPERBACK ISBN 978-0-309-46713-1 | DOI 10.17226/24928 CONTRIBUTORS GET THIS BOOK David Weisburd and Malay K. Majmundar, Editors; Committee on Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime, Communities, and Civil Liberties; Committee on Law and Justice; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National FIND RELATED TITLES Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Visit the National Academies Press at NAP.edu and login or register to get: – Access to free PDF downloads of thousands of scientific reports – 10% off the price of print titles – Email or social media notifications of new titles related to your interests – Special offers and discounts Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the National Academies Press. (Request Permission) Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime and Communities Proactive Policing Effects on Crime and Communities Committee on Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime, Communities, and Civil Liberties David Weisburd and Malay K. Majmundar, Editors Committee on Law and Justice Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education A Consensus Study Report of Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Proactive Policing: Effects on Crime and Communities THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 This activity was supported by a Grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and Grant No.
    [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]
  • 1 DAVID LEE WEISBURD INVITED LECTURES David Weisburd
    DAVID LEE WEISBURD INVITED LECTURES David Weisburd, “Location , Location, Location.” Jerry Lee Lecture, Joint Cochrane/Campbell Collaborations Symposium, Keystone Colorado. (October, 2010). David Weisburd, “Coupling Crime to Place: The Promise of Place Based Criminology.” The Stockholm Prize Lecture, The Stockholm Prize Symposium (July, 2010). David Weisburd, “Location, Location, Location: Hot Spots of Crime and Crime Prevention.” Vision Lecture, George Mason University. (February, 2010). David Weisburd, Graduation Address, Social Sciences, University of Queensland (Australia), (December, 2009). David Weisburd, “Crime Mapping and Hot Spots Policing,” Interview as part of the “Research in the Real World Series” National Institute of Justice Seminar Series. (October, 2009). http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/multimedia/video-weisburd.htm David Weisburd, “Why Non-Experimental Methods are Not Good Enough, and Why Experimental Methods Are.” Fourth Annual Randomised Controlled Trials in the Social Sciences Conference. York University, York, UK. (September, 2009). David Weisburd, "The Crucial Question for Crime: Not Who Done It But Where Done It." Forum For New Ideas in Justice. George Mason University. (November, 2008) David Weisburd, "Why Non-Experimental Methods Are Not Good Enough: Advocating for Experimental Criminology." Joan McCord Lecture of the Academy Of Experimental Criminology. American Society of Criminology, St. Louis (November 2008) David Weisburd, Plenary Lecture, “Focusing Policing on Places,” Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Stockholm. (June 2008) David Weisburd, “Location, Location, Location: Why Crime Theory and Policy Should be Focused on Places,” Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK. (October, 2007) David Weisburd, “Understanding Police Innovation: Observations on the US Experience.” Explaining Major Shifts in policing, An International Experience. Institute of Political Studies, University of Grenoble, France.
    [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]
  • Florence Nightingale and Oxford Statistics
    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.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2: Towards a Cartographic Criminology
    2. Towards a cartographic criminology? Maps are too important to be left to cartographers alone. (Harley, 1992: 231) Crime maps are everywhere. They can be seen on television, in the newspapers, and online. These crime maps inform interested parties of the spatial distribution of particular crimes and help shape policies to combat the crime problem. However, as the previous chapter demonstrated, maps should not be accepted passively. Rather, maps must be problematised, and this is especially true when it comes to crime maps. This chapter aims to do just that by posing a series of questions about how cartography and mapping practice have been used within criminology. More specifically, it will introduce the history of cartography within criminology, arguing that, whilst there is a field of study known as the ‘cartographic school’ of criminology, the discipline has yet to employ cartographic methods with any real sophistication or understanding. By focusing on a series of key historical moments when criminologists sought to place (crime) maps at the very heart of their analysis, this chapter will assert that, not only has criminology tended to reproduce the type of mistakes outlined in the critiques of cartography discussed in the previous chapter, but that it is has also created a further set of problems that have detrimentally affected the discipline. Criminology has a fecund and well-documented relationship with space and the environment. Consequently, trying to summarise/appraise this relationship in any substantive detail is a task beyond that of a doctoral dissertation. Instead, my goal here is a more circumspect one: to illustrate how criminology has utilized maps and mapping information, and more specifically to analyse this utilization via the critical cartographic literature introduced in Chapter 1 (Cartography: the development and critique of maps and mapmaking).
    [Show full text]
  • The Scope of Body Mass Index (BMI) and Other Body Component Measurements
    DOI: 10.38146/BSZ.SPEC.2020.1.2 Viktor Németh The Scope of Body Mass Index (BMI) and other body component measurements Most significant features of the different body component measurement methods Abstract This paper presents and compare the scopes of the body component measure- ment methods and techniques currently in use. Next to the best known and widespread Adolphe Quetelet's Body Mass Index, ‘New Body Mass Index’ created by Prof. Trfethen. Moreover, it presents and compares the bioelectri- cal impedance analysis and the Electrical Impedance Myographs methods, too. This article aims to go through one by one the body component measurement methods, and to compare the most important feature of them, for a better un- derstanding of their usability. Keywords: body mass index, professional sports, body component measure- ments, skinfold, new body mass index, bioelectrical impedance analysis Introduction The perfect body is the subject of inquiry of the civilization from ages. In the last century beside the representatives of different arts the scientists also set up standards of the human body. Body mass index has been used for several 100 years; BMI divides a person's weight by the height squared. This formula has never been corrected or changed during its use. Would it be perfect for all earth- lings, all age groups, all physical activities - especially for all sports practition- ers? Some scientists say that the BMI leads to confusion and misinformation – especially in the fields of professional sports (URL5). Belügyi Szemle / 2020 / Special Issue 1. 27 GO TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS In the early nineteenth century the insurance companies gained a significant increase in the fields of life-insurances in the United States of America.
    [Show full text]
  • Adolphe Quetelet and the Evolution of Body Mass Index (BMI) | Psychology Today
    9/27/2017 Adolphe Quetelet and the Evolution of Body Mass Index (BMI) | Psychology Today Sylvia R. Karasu M.D. The Gravity of Weight Adolphe Quetelet and the Evolution of Body Mass Index (BMI) A 19th century 'Renaissance man' devised a ratio we use Like 18 today. Posted Mar 18, 2016 Procrustes (literally the “one who stretches”) was a robber who had an inn beside a road that led away from ancient Athens. He boasted that his bed could fit anyone who came to stay the night but instead of making the bed fit the person, he made the person fit the bed. So for those travelers who were too tall, he amputated their legs and for those too short, he stretched them to fit his one­size­fits all bed. In both scenarios, so the ancient Greek myth goes, the unlucky traveler was killed. But Procrustes got his due—Theseus, of Minotaur and labyrinth fame, killed him in the same way he had killed his guests, i.e., by making him fit his own bed, and according to one version, decapitated him. The myth is referenced by the Greek historian Plutarch in Parallel Lives and by the Roman poet Detail from an Ancient Greek red figure amphora of Theseus Ovid in Metamorphoses, as well as on Greek red killing Procrustes, Louvre Museum. figure pottery. Nassim Taleb used this myth as Source: Wikimediacommons.org/Public Domain inspiration for his book —The Bed of Procrustes, a book of aphorisms that relate to situations of changing the wrong variable. Procrustes, though, with his focus on a one­size­fits all mentality, may have been the first in history to mandate standardization.
    [Show full text]
  • This Topic Will Be Treated Again in Our Next Issue. and in the Issue After
    e: The Master of All BRIAN J. MCCARTIN Read Euler, read Euler. He is the master of us all. --P. S. de Laplace aplace's dictum may rightfully be transcribed as: "Study Thus, e was first conceived as the limit e, study e. It is the master of all." L e = lim (1 + l/n)*' = 2.718281828459045" (1) Just as Gauss earned the moniker Princeps mathemati- n~ao corum amongst his contemporaries [1], e may be dubbed although its baptism awaited Euler in the eighteenth cen- Princeps constantium symbolum. Certainly, Euler would tury [2]. One might naively expect that all that could be concur, or why would he have endowed it with his own gleaned from equation (1) would have been mined long initial [2]? ago. Yet, it was only very recently that the asymptotic The historical roots of e have been exhaustively traced development and are readily available [3, 4, 5]. Likewise, certain funda- mental properties of e such as its limit definition, its series =(1+1/n) ~ = ~ e~. representation, its close association with the rectangular hy- perbola, and its relation to compound interest, radioactive decay, and the trigonometric and hyperbolic functions are ev= e l---7--. ' (2) k=o (v+ k)! l=o too well known to warrant treatment here [6, 7]. Rather, the focus of the present article is on matters re- with & denoting the Stirling numbers of the first kind [9], lated to e which are not so widely appreciated or at least was discovered [10]. have never been housed under one roof. When I do in- Although equation (1) is traditionally taken as the defin- dulge in reviewing well-known facts concerning e, it is to ition of e, it is much better approximated by the limit forge a link to results of a more exotic variety.
    [Show full text]