Homepage

Record

RefNoRR/16/416
LevelItem
TitleReferee's report by George Ballard Mathews, on two papers 'On a property which holds good for all groupings of a normal distribution of frequency for two variables, with applications to the study of contingency-tables for the inheritance of unmeasured qualities' and 'On the influence of bias and of personal equation in statistics of ill-defined qualities: An experimental study' by George Udny Yule
Date13 December 1905
DescriptionSectional Committee: not stated.

Suggests Yule recast his shorter paper adding the essential features of his experiment and withdraw the long paper. Queries what Larmor thinks. Thinks the papers should be very considerably cut down and as Larmor notes, the cost of the printing the tabular results would be very expensive. If he thought fit, Yule could for a small sum have his tables graphed or lithographed and sent round to Pearson and others. Thinks Yule has made very clear that tables recording qualities, not quantities, should be scrutinised very carefully before basing conclusions upon them. Each has to be taken on its own merits and for this reason Mathews does not see the use of making a permanent and elaborate record of Yule's colour experiment.

Briefly discusses the difference between the conclusions of the pairs of tints observers, and the horse-coat colour observers. Does not understand what Pearson means in his postscript. The examination is not confined to 18 series but many more, the result for 100 chestnuts being given. How far the latter support Mendelian theory Mathews must leave a biologist to decide. Explains why he would expect more divergence with the eye-colour results. Does not consider Yule's papers as anything like an attack on Pearson. There is bound to be controversy on these difficult questions of statistics and heredity for a long time to come and he does not see why different views should not appear in the Proceedings as well as elsewhere, provided nothing is printed which is in the least degree personally offensive.

[Both papers published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 1906].
Extent3p
FormatManuscript
PhysicalDescriptionLetter on paper
Digital imagesView item on Science in the Making
AccessStatusOpen
RelatedMaterialDOI: 10.1098/rspa.1906.0029
DOI: 10.1098/rspa.1906.0030
RelatedRecordRR/16/409
RR/16/410
RR/16/411
RR/16/412
RR/16/413
RR/16/415
RR/16/416
RR/16/417
RR/16/418
AP/77/1
Fellows associated with this archive
CodePersonNameDates
NA170Mathews; George Ballard (1861 - 1922)1861 - 1922
NA1151Yule; George Udny (1871 - 1951)1871 - 1951
Add to My Items
    Papers of Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance

    Papers of Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance

    Useful Links

    Collection highlights

    Browse the records of some of our collections, which cover all branches of science and date from the 12th century onwards. These include the published works of Fellows of the Royal Society, personal papers of eminent scientists, letters and manuscripts sent to the Society or presented at meetings, and administrative records documenting the Society's activities since our foundation in 1660.

    The mammals of Australia
    The mammals of Australia
    Papers of Howard Florey
    Papers of Howard Florey
    Papers of Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance
    Papers of Elsie Widdowson and Robert McCance
    Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions
    Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions
    Browse Collections

    The Royal Society

    The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of
    the world's most eminent scientists and is the
    oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
    Registered charity number 207043

    Website design ©CalmView



    CONTACT US

    + 44 207 451 2500
    (Lines open Mon-Fri, 9:00-17:00. Excludes bank holidays)

    6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG

    Email Us →

    SUBSCRIBE

    Subscribe to our newsletters to be updated with the
    latest news on innovation, events, articles and reports.

    Subscribe →

    © CalmView