The Subjectivity of Scientists and the Bayesian Approach

Author:   S. James Press (University of California, Riverside) ,  Judith M. Tanur (State University of New York, Stony Brook)
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
ISBN:  

9780471396857


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   24 April 2001
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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The Subjectivity of Scientists and the Bayesian Approach


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Overview

Comparing and contrasting the reality of subjectivity in the work of history's great scientists and the modern Bayesian approach to statistical analysis Scientists and researchers are taught to analyze their data from an objective point of view, allowing the data to speak for themselves rather than assigning them meaning based on expectations or opinions. But scientists have never behaved fully objectively. Throughout history, some of our greatest scientific minds have relied on intuition, hunches, and personal beliefs to make sense of empirical data-and these subjective influences have often aided in humanity's greatest scientific achievements. The authors argue that subjectivity has not only played a significant role in the advancement of science, but that science will advance more rapidly if the modern methods of Bayesian statistical analysis replace some of the classical twentieth-century methods that have traditionally been taught. To accomplish this goal, the authors examine the lives and work of history's great scientists and show that even the most successful have sometimes misrepresented findings or been influenced by their own preconceived notions of religion, metaphysics, and the occult, or the personal beliefs of their mentors. Contrary to popular belief, our greatest scientific thinkers approached their data with a combination of subjectivity and empiricism, and thus informally achieved what is more formally accomplished by the modern Bayesian approach to data analysis. Yet we are still taught that science is purely objective. This innovative book dispels that myth using historical accounts and biographical sketches of more than a dozen great scientists, including Aristotle, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, William Harvey, Sir Isaac Newton, Antoine Levoisier, Alexander von Humboldt, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie, Robert Millikan, Albert Einstein, Sir Cyril Burt, and Margaret Mead. Also included is a detailed treatment of the modern Bayesian approach to data analysis. Up-to-date references to the Bayesian theoretical and applied literature, as well as reference lists of the primary sources of the principal works of all the scientists discussed, round out this comprehensive treatment of the subject. Readers will benefit from this cogent and enlightening view of the history of subjectivity in science and the authors' alternative vision of how the Bayesian approach should be used to further the cause of science and learning well into the twenty-first century.

Full Product Details

Author:   S. James Press (University of California, Riverside) ,  Judith M. Tanur (State University of New York, Stony Brook)
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.10cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 24.10cm
Weight:   0.549kg
ISBN:  

9780471396857


ISBN 10:   0471396850
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   24 April 2001
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Reviews

[...] it is a splendid and important book. (Dennis Lindley) An insightful work. (Choice, Vol. 39, No. 4, December 2001) compilation of interesting and popular problems (Short Book Reviews - Publication of the Int. Statistical Institute, December 2001) ...this book is fascinating. (Short Book Reviews, Vol. 21, No. 3, December 2001) ...highlight the role of subjectivity in science by describing the life and works of 17 scientists. (Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 973, 2001/23) ...a valuable contribution to the history of ideas. anyone interested in statistics or the history and philosophy of science can profit from it. (Technometrics, Vol. 44, No. 3, August 2002)


Author Information

S. JAMES PRESS is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of California at Riverside. He is also the author of Bayesian Statistics: Principles, Models, and Applications (Wiley) and Applied Multivariate Analysis: Including Bayesian and Frequentist Methods of Inference. JUDITH M. TANUR is Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is also the editor of Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown and Questions About Questions: Inquiries into the Cognitive Bases of Surveys.

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