GB 0103 MS ADD 274 - Gosset Letters

1 box

GB 0103 MS ADD 274 1915-1936 Collection (fonds) 1 box Gosset , William Sealy , 1876-1937 , statistician and industrial research scientist

William Sealy Gosset, statistician and industrial research scientist, was born at Canterbury in June 1876, the eldest son of Colonel Frederic Gosset R.E. and Agnes Sealy Gosset. He studied at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he obtained a first class in mathematical moderations in 1897 and in natural science (chemistry) in 1899. From 1899 until his death he worked for Arthur Guinness, Son and Company in Dublin, being sent to London in 1935 to take charge of the new Guinness brewery there. Gosset's task was to use the mass of statistical data about brewing methods, barley and hops in order to improve his company's product. In 1905 he contacted Karl Pearson and studied during the session of 1906-7 in his laboratory at University College London. Between 1907 and 1937 Gosset published twenty-two statistical papers and did much work concerned not only with chemistry and biology but also with agriculture. In 1906 he married Marjory Surtees, youngest daughter of James Surtees Phillpotts. They had one son and two daughters. Gosset died at Beaconsfield in October 1937.

Presented by Sir R A Fisher via Laurence McMullen (Gosset's successor in the Guinness Brewery) and E S Pearson of the Department of Statistical Science, University College London, in 1980.

The letters are mostly between Gosset (known as 'Student') and Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962) who became Professor of Eugenics at University College London. Letters from other scientists are interleaved where they bear on the correspondence.

The arrangement, in chronological order, and numbering by Sir R A Fisher is preserved.

Open.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.
English

A more detailed list is available. Please contact Special Collections for further information.

University College London Manuscript Room holds transcripts of the letters from Gosset to Fisher. The transcription was printed for private circulation with a foreword by L McMullen in 1962.

  1999  Agricultural biology Agricultural products Agricultural research Agriculture Alcoholic beverages Applied research Arthur Guinness, Son and Company , Dublin and London , brewers x Guinness Beverages Biology Fisher , Sir , Ronald Aylmer , 1890-1962 , Knight , Professor of Eugenics Food Genetics Gosset , William Sealy , 1876-1937 , statistician and industrial research scientist Research Research and development Statistics

Presented by Sir R A Fisher via Laurence McMullen (Gosset's successor in the Guinness Brewery) and E S Pearson of the Department of Statistical Science, University College London, in 1980.

The letters are mostly between Gosset (known as 'Student') and Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962) who became Professor of Eugenics at University College London. Letters from other scientists are interleaved where they bear on the correspondence.

The arrangement, in chronological order, and numbering by Sir R A Fisher is preserved.

Open.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

• English

• Latin

English

A more detailed list is available. Please contact Special Collections for further information.

University College London Manuscript Room holds transcripts of the letters from Gosset to Fisher. The transcription was printed for private circulation with a foreword by L McMullen in 1962.

• English