Science statistics: the history of the emergence, formation, development

The statistics, the history of development of which will be examined by us today, is a science that has a centuries-old history. Its roots go back to antiquity. Statistical practice has emerged through the formation of the state. In order for it to arise, it was necessary to have information about the lands, the number of people living on them, their property status, and much more. But it is the collection and analysis of their statistics. The history of its origin and development, presented in the article, concerns both world and domestic science. Let's start with the foreign, and then move on to the description of Russian statistics.

Briefly about the history of the development of statistics

A few thousand years ago, the count of land and population, as well as various data about it, was conducted in Ancient Egypt, Rome and China. Since ancient times, information related to such a field of knowledge as statistics has begun to be collected. The history of its development, therefore, covers the millennium. At a later time, these data began to be processed and analyzed, and not just collected, that is, the birth of statistics as a science.

School of political arithmetic and two directions of statistics in their writings

School of political arithmetic in England is represented by such founders as D. Graunt (years of life - 1620-1674), E. Halley, who lived from 1656 to 1742, V. Petty (1623-1687). Two areas can be identified in the writings of these scientists. The first of these is the demographic (Halley and Graunt), which has a bias towards issues related to insurance. The second direction is the statistical and economic one, represented by V. Petty. D. Graunt was the first who discovered the patterns existing in the mass phenomena of society. He showed how to analyze and process the primary material. Graunt made the first attempt to create a table of mortality of the population.

The English astronomer E. Halley (his portrait is presented above) proposed the law of large numbers. He also used methods to eliminate deviations (random). V. Petty - a scientist who carried out a number of important scientific works, which marked the history of the formation of statistics. In these works he sought to evaluate a particular phenomenon, even if there was a lack of numerical data.

Scientists who worked in the sphere of political arithmetic tried to characterize, by means of figures, the state of society and its development, to understand the patterns of certain phenomena in it, which manifest themselves on mass material. The tasks and goals they pursued are close to today's understanding of science such as statistics. The history of its further development is characterized by new achievements. Let us turn to their consideration.

Statistical and mathematical direction

In the first half of the 19th century a third direction appeared: statistical and mathematical. The scientist A. Quetelet (years of life - 1796-1874, the portrait is presented above) made a special contribution to its development. He referred to statistics as social physics, that is, a science that studies the laws of society using quantitative methods. Quetelet substantiated the idea of applying regularities obtained from a mass of cases, as the most important tool by which one can know the objective reality.

Further development of statistics in the West

The history of statistics abroad in the 19th century was supplemented by new names and achievements. F. Galton (years of life - 1822-1911) and K. Pierson, who lived from 1857 to 1936 - English scientists who made a significant contribution to the further development of this field of knowledge. The first of them seriously tackled the problem of heredity. Galton (his portrait is presented above) soon applied to her analysis the methods of statistics, which gave positive results.

R. Fisher (years of life - 1890-1962) is the most famous Western scientist in the region of interest to us in the 20th century. He worked for 50 years. Many of Fisher's studies have significantly influenced the further development of such a field of knowledge as statistics.

The History of Statistics of Ancient Rus

As for our country, information on taxation was collected in Rus' in the 10th and 12th centuries. During the reforms of Peter I almost all spheres of society's life were affected. This required a lot of accurate statistical information concerning the registration of factories and plants, the prices of bread, the number of cities and the number of their population, the volumes of foreign trade,

Descriptive school

In our country, the descriptive trend developed at a rapid pace, and on the basis of this, the history of statistics in Russia was formed. The largest representatives of the descriptive school are such scientists as MV Lomonosov (years of life - 1711-1765), IK Kirillov (1689-1737), KF German (1767-1838), and V.N. Tatishchev (his portrait is presented above), who lived in the period from 1686 to 1750.

Kirillov's work is one of the first in our country of economic and geographical descriptions presented systematically. The further history of the development of statistics is connected with the name of such a scientist as Tatishchev, who made a great contribution to this area of knowledge. They created a detailed program to obtain information that was needed to compile the geography of the state with a full economic description of the country.

Lomonosov's contribution to statistics

The history of the development of statistics in our country is in many ways connected with the name of the great scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. In 1755 he wrote a book entitled "The word commendable to the Emperor Peter the Great." In it, an assessment was made of the Petrovsky revision carried out shortly before this. Mikhail Vasilievich dealt in his works with a number of issues that were related to finance, the population, natural resources, and others.

Improvement of the method of preparation and survey of data characterizing the population, geography and economy of the state in trade, agriculture, transport, industry, etc. is considered a special merit of Lomonosov. This program was developed first by VN Tatishchev. It was intended for the "Atlas of Russia". According to this program, special forms of the survey were sent to the counties and cities. For a long time, the materials entered the academy. They managed to be processed after the death of Mikhail Vasilyevich.

The development of statistics in Russia in the 19th century

The history of science statistics in our country was marked by a number of achievements in the 19th century. A number of major works devoted to the theory of this field of knowledge appeared at the beginning of this century. KF German in his book entitled "The Universal Theory of Statistics" outlined the fundamental directions that characterize this science. A major role in the history of the field of knowledge of interest to us belongs to the works of KI Arsen'ev (years of life - 1789-1856). This scientist believed that statistical science is able to adequately characterize the state of affairs in the state.

The scientist DP Zhuravsky, who lived between 1810 and 1856, has an important merit - the presentation of the theoretical foundations of statistics in the form of a system. He revealed the principle that qualitative and quantitative analysis must be viewed in unity.

A characteristic feature of the representatives of the academic school of the science of interest was their desire to replace the study of the state by the study of society. The founders of it include E. Yu. Janson (1835-93), AI Chuprov (years of life - 1842-1908), N. A. Kablukov, A. A. Kaufman. Scientists working in the field of academic statistics have done a lot to develop the science of interest to us in Russia. Their activities had a positive impact on the work of various statistical bodies. The development of the mathematical direction in our country was greatly influenced by the works of such domestic mathematicians as PP Chebyshev, AA Markov and AM Lyapunov.

Modern tasks and statistical bodies in our country

In the works of VI Khotimsky, VN Starovskii, VS Nemchinov, BS Yastremsky, A. Ya. Boyarsky, LV Nekrash and others, the history of statistics was briefly summarized. They collected the experience of Russian scientists in this field. Today our country is working to improve the system, as well as translating the methodology into accounting principles adopted in foreign practice in accordance with the requirements imposed by laws of market economy.

Goskomstat of Russia is today the central body of the system of state statistics in our country. This is a federal executive body. The system of state statistics in our country is represented by other organizations. These are its bodies in the republics, territories, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, districts and cities, as well as their subordinate institutions.

The modern content of the concept of "statistics"

The development of this science, the expansion of the field of its practical application, has led to the fact that the content of its very concept has changed. Today, the term "statistics" is used in the following three meanings.

1. It refers to the field of practical human activity, which aims to collect and process mass data on various phenomena of society's life, as well as their subsequent analysis and publication. "Statistics" in this sense is synonymous with such a phrase as "statistical accounting".
2. The next value is the digital material used to describe a particular sphere of social phenomena or is used when considering the distribution of a certain indicator in a territorial sense.
3. Statistics also refers to the branch of knowledge, a separate scientific discipline, as well as a subject that is taught in secondary and higher educational institutions.

So, we briefly described such a branch of knowledge as statistics. The history of its origin and development was presented in this article. It should be emphasized that this science is still developing. The history of statistics, briefly described in the article, will be supplemented by new achievements with time.