Statistical nodes and circulations around 1800

Bernhard Struck
Friday 2 February 2018

Research Seminar Paper 

Adam Dunn (University of St Andrews)

From words to numbers and maps. Transfers, networks and the transformations of statistical thinking in Britain and the German lands, c. 1750s-1840s

This talk will explore the changes, evolution and developments of statistical thinking from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century. It will argue that the form, function and theory of statistical thought changed from a descriptive, narrative, mode to a more mathematical, visual, mode. Taking Sir John Sinclair as its lead the talk will argue that the work of amateur statisticians, working beyond or on the margins of state mechanisms, played a crucial part in this development. It will argue that Sinclair not only made significant methodological and theoretical leaps forward, but also that he was aided in these developments and spreading his ideas by the vast transnational network he established through travel and correspondence.

Time & Venue: Monday, 5 February 2018, 5.15pm, Room 1.10 St Katharine’s Lodge, University of St Andrews 

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