The Etymology of the Word Statistics Stats + Stories Episode 248 (REPOST)

In the late 1600s, a book was published satirizing politics in Europe. Published two decades after the end of the 30 Years’ War, it focuses on the power of the Holy Roman Empire. That book’s impact on statistics is the focus of this episode of stats and stories, with guest Wallace Ferguson. Wallace Ferguson has taught mathematics and statistics at Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School, Kent, England since 1994. He writes book reviews for the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications, which are published in their journal, ‘Mathematics Today’. His interests include statistical etymology and his article ‘Microscopium statisticum and the etymology of statistics’ was published in the February edition of Significance. Ferguson is currently working on a follow on article, ‘Literature, Politics and the Framing of the State, 1300 – 1648’. He was a member of The Royal Statistical Society History of Statistics committee from 2018 until this year.

You can listen to The Etymology of the Word Statistics Stats + Stories Episode 248 (REPOST) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Etymology of the Word Statistics Stats + Stories Episode 248 (REPOST) is an episode from Stats + Stories by Stats + Stories.

This episode is 00:23:42 long.

This episode was published on Apr 30, 2026.

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