Edmund Cecil Rhodes (1892–1964), a

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

, was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and named after

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

. He went to

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational private day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination. For the sixth form admission is based on GCSE results. The school gives means-tested ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he graduated as Wrangler (B-star) in 1914. In 1924 he became reader at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, where he remained until he retired in 1958. He wrote for ''

Biometrika ''Biometrika'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press for the Biometrika Trust. The editor-in-chief is Paul Fearnhead (Lancaster University). The principal focus of this journal is theoretical statistics. It was ...

'' and the ''

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society The ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of statistics. It comprises three series and is published by Oxford University Press for the Royal Statistical Society. History The Statistical Society of ...

'', and

Edgeworth Edgeworth may refer to: People * Edgeworth (surname) Places * Edgeworth, Gloucestershire, England * Edgeworth, New South Wales, Australia * Edgeworth, Pennsylvania, USA * Edgworth, a village in Lancashire, England * Edgeworth Island, Nunavut ...

called him a "pathbreaker" (see obituary by Grebenik). Rhodes originated the

Rhodes algorithm Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional ...

linear programming Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements and objective are represented by linear function#As a polynomia ...

. He worked with

Arthur Bowley Sir Arthur Lyon Bowley, FBA (6 November 1869 – 21 January 1957) was an English statistician and economist who worked on economic statistics and pioneered the use of sampling techniques in social surveys. Early life Bowley's father, James Wi ...

, and also with Sir

Alexander Carr-Saunders Sir Alexander Morris Carr-Saunders, (14 January 1886 – 6 October 1966) was an English biologist, sociologist, academic, and academic administrator. He was Director of the London School of Economics from 1937 to 1957. Early life Carr-Saund ...

on his study of

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term ...

, and he contributed to

population studies Population study is an interdisciplinary field of scientific study that uses various statistical methods and models to analyse, determine, address, and predict population challenges and trends from data collected through various data collection me ...

and the statistical study of examinations (see his book with Sir Philip John Hartog entitled '' An Examination of Examinations''.

Papers

* ''Reducing Observations by the Method of Minimum Deviations'', Phil. Magazine 7th Series. Pp. 974 – 992, 1930 * ''Young Offenders, an Enquiry Into Juvenile Delinquency'', A.M. Carr-Saunders e Hermann Mannheim, 1942 * ''An examination of examinations : being a summary of investigations on the comparison of marks allotted to examinations scripts by independent examiners and boards of examiners, together with a section on a viva voce examination'', with Sir Philip John Hartog, 1936

References

* Grebenik, E. (1965) Edmund Cecil Rhodes, 1892–1964 (obituary). Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A 128(4):615–616. 1892 births 1964 deaths Academics of the London School of Economics English statisticians People educated at Bradford Grammar School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge {{UK-statistician-stub