Karl Pearson

Karl Pearson FRS (27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) established the discipline of mathematical statistics. In 1911 he founded the world's first university statistics department at University College London. He was a controversial proponent of eugenics, and a protégé and biographer of Sir Francis Galton. A sesquicentenary conference was held in London on 23 March 2007, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth. Carl Pearson, later known as Karl... more

Karl Pearson FRS (27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) established the discipline of mathematical statistics. In 1911 he founded the world's first university statistics department at University College London. He was a controversial proponent of eugenics, and a protégé and biographer of Sir Francis Galton. A sesquicentenary conference was held in London on 23 March 2007, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth. Carl Pearson, later known as Karl Pearson (1857-1936) was born to William Pearson and Fanny Smith, who had three children, Aurthur, Carl (Karl) and Amy. William Pearson also sired an illegitimate son, Frederick Mockett. Pearson's mother, née Fanny Smith, came from a family of master mariners who sailed their own ships from Hull; his father read law at Edinburgh and was a successful barrister and Queen's Counsel (QC). William Pearson's father's family came from the North Riding of Yorkshire. The family grave is at Crambe, near York. Its motto, "ERIMUS" means "We shall be", and... less