Karl Pearson
The Mathematician, carried along on his flood of symbols, dealing apparently with purely formal truths, may still reach results of endless importance for our description of the physical universe.
~ Quoted in N Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims (Raleigh N C 1988).
Born: March 27, 1857 in London, England
Died: April 27, 1936 in London, England
Karl Pearson graduated from Cambridge University in 1879, then spent most of his career at University College, London. He was the first Galton professor of eugenics, holding the chair from 1911 to 1933.
His book The Grammar of Science (1892), was remarkable in that it anticipated some of the ideas of relativity theory. It was wide ranging and attempted to extend the influence of science into all aspects. Pearson then became interested in developing mathematical methods for studying the processes of heredity and evolution.
He applied statistics to biological problems of heredity and evolution.
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