7 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Matthew White's 2011 quantitative ranking of history's 100 worst atrocities by death toll — providing statistical estimates and uncertainty ranges for every major historical mass death event — the comprehensive reference for historical violence at scale.
The theorem stating how to update prior beliefs in light of new evidence — providing the mathematical foundation for rational belief revision.
Danish environmental economist — founder of the Copenhagen Consensus Center — author of The Skeptical Environmentalist — who accepts climate change science but argues that current climate policies are economically inefficient and that other global priorities (malaria, poverty) have higher return on investment.
American amateur historian who compiled The Great Big Book of Horrible Things — a statistical ranking and analysis of history's worst atrocities by death toll — referenced in the History 102 context for his systematic approach to quantifying historical violence.
British statistician and geneticist who single-handedly invented or developed much of modern statistics — analysis of variance, maximum likelihood, experimental design — while also contributing to the synthesis of Mendelian genetics with Darwinian evolution.
American statistician and management consultant who taught Japanese manufacturers quality control after WWII (helping create the Japanese economic miracle) and developed Total Quality Management — whose 14 Points and System of Profound Knowledge became the foundation of modern quality and continuous improvement movements.
American statistician and information design theorist — whose Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1983) established the principles of excellent data visualization and whose critique of PowerPoint became a cultural landmark.