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Mathematical Statistics in the Humanities, and Some Related Problems in Astronomy

In: A Celebration of Statistics

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  • David G. Kendall

Abstract

The author discusses a number of problems with which he has been concerned arising in archeology and astronomy. The first is a problem of archeological seriation and its generalizations to higher dimensions, which require the construction of maps from scrappy information. The second is the problem of testing a one-dimensional set of observations for the presence of an underlying unit of length. The third is the problem of testing two-dimensional sets of observations for the presence of too many triple or higher-order alignments among the points. These last two problems arise in the first instance in neolithic archeology but have since found interesting applications in several other fields. In particular, the problem of testing for alignments is currently of great importance in quasar astronomy. Alignment testing is a problem concerned with shape, and this leads on to an outline of a general approach to the statistics of shape which has been developed recently. Finally the author discusses a different astronomical problem in directional statistics where some of the participating so-called “directions” are actually elements of projective spaces. Here the substantive question is one of testing the significance of the evidence for a hitherto unsuspected asymmetry in the universe (Kendall and Young, 1984).

Suggested Citation

  • David G. Kendall, 1985. "Mathematical Statistics in the Humanities, and Some Related Problems in Astronomy," Springer Books, in: Anthony C. Atkinson & Stephen E. Fienberg (ed.), A Celebration of Statistics, chapter 0, pages 393-408, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-1-4613-8560-8_17
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-8560-8_17
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