John Tukey

Infobox_Scientist
name = John Tukey


caption = John Wilder Tukey
birth_date = birth date|1915|6|16
birth_place = New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
death_date = death date and age|2000|7|26|1915|6|16
death_place = New Brunswick, New Jersey
residence = United States
nationality =American
field = Mathematician
work_institution = Bell Labs
Princeton University
alma_mater = Brown University
Princeton University
doctoral_advisor = Solomon Lefschetz
doctoral_students = Frederick Mosteller
known_for = FFT algorithm
Box plot
Coining the term 'bit'
prizes = [http://www.amstat.org/awards/index.cfm?fuseaction=wilks Samuel S. Wilks Award] (1965)
National Medal of Science (1973)
Shewhart Medal (1976)
IEEE Medal of Honor (1982)
[http://www.asq.org/about-asq/awards/deming.html Deming Medal] (1982)
[http://alumni.princeton.edu/main/volunteers/awards/alumni_day_awards/JamesMadisonMedalAward.pdf James Madison Medal] (1984)
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1991)
footnotes =

John Wilder Tukey (June 16, 1915 – July 26, 2000) was an American statistician.

Biography

Tukey was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1915, and obtained a B.A. in 1936 and M.Sc. in 1937, in chemistry, from Brown University, before moving to Princeton University where he received a Ph.D. in mathematics.

During World War II, Tukey worked at the Fire Control Research Office and collaborated with Samuel Wilks and William Cochran. After the war, he returned to Princeton, dividing his time between the university and AT&T Bell Laboratories.

Among many contributions to civil society, Tukey served on a committee of the American Statistical Association that produced a report challenging the conclusions of the Kinsey Report, "Statistical Problems of the Kinsey Report on Sexual Behavior in the Human Male".

He was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982 "For his contributions to the spectral analysis of random processes and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm."

Tukey retired in 1985. He died in New Brunswick, New Jersey on July 26, 2000.

cientific contributions

His statistical interests were many and varied. He is particularly remembered for his development with James Cooley of the Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm. In 1970, he contributed significantly to what is today known as the jackknife estimation—also termed Quenouille-Tukey jackknife. He introduced the box plot in his 1977 book, "Exploratory Data Analysis".

Tukey's test, the Tukey lambda distribution, and the Tukey-Kramer method all bear his name. He is also the creator of several little-known methods such as the trimean and median-median line, an easier alternative to linear regression.

Statistical terms

Tukey coined many statistical terms that have become part of common usage, but the two most famous coinages attributed to him were related to computer science.

While working with John von Neumann on early computer designs, Tukey introduced the word "bit" as a contraction of binary digit [ [http://www.linfo.org/bit.html The origin of the 'bit'] ] . The term bit was first used in an article by Claude Shannon in 1948.

Tukey used the term "software" in a computing context in a 1958 article for American Mathematical Monthly, the first published use of the term. [John Tukey, 85, Statistician; Coined the Word 'Software', New York Times, Obituaries, July 28, 2000]

Tukey's statistical techniques played an influential role in the development of Dorian Shainin’s simple confirmation “Six Pack Test.” Six Pack Tests were known for being much simpler than t-tests, being non-parametric and having a basic rule set. [Bhote, Keki, World Class Quality: Using Design of Experiments to Make It Happen, 2nd edition, 2000, Amacom, New York, pp. 196–197 ISBN# 0814404278 ]

Statistical practice

He also contributed to statistical practice and articulated the important distinction between exploratory data analysis and confirmatory data analysis, believing that much statistical methodology placed too great an emphasis on the latter.

Though he believed in the utility of separating the two types of analysis, he pointed out that sometimes, especially in natural science, this was problematic and termed such situations uncomfortable science.

Quotes

* A D Gordon offered the following summary of Tukey's principles for statistical practice: :... the usefulness and limitation of mathematical statistics; the importance of having methods of statistical analysis that are robust to violations of the assumptions underlying their use; the need to amass experience of the behaviour of specific methods of analysis in order to provide guidance on their use; the importance of allowing the possibility of data's influencing the choice of method by which they are analysed; the need for statisticians to reject the role of 'guardian of proven truth', and to resist attempts to provide once-for-all solutions and tidy over-unifications of the subject; the iterative nature of data analysis; implications of the increasing power, availability and cheapness of computing facilities; the training of statisticians.
*"Far better an approximate answer to the "right" question, which is often vague, than an "exact" answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise." J. W. Tukey (1962, page 13), "The future of data analysis". "Annals of Mathematical Statistics" 33(1), pp. 1–67.
*"The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data." J. W. Tukey (1986), "Sunset salvo". "The American Statistician" 40(1). Online at http://www.jstor.org/pss/2683137

Publications

*cite book |last=Andrews, David F; Peter J Bickel; Frank R Hampel; Peter J Huber; W H Rogers & John W Tukey |title=Robust estimates of location: survey and advances |year=1972 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-08113-1 |oclc=369963
*cite book |last=Basford, Kaye E & John W Tukey |title=Graphical analysis of multiresponse data |year=1998 |publisher=Chapman & Hall/CRC |isbn=0-8493-0384-2 |oclc=154674707
*cite book |last=Blackman, R B & John W Tukey |title=The measurement of power spectra from the point of view of communications engineering |year=1959 |publisher=Dover Publications |isbn=0-486-60507-8
*cite book |last=Cochran, William G; Frederick Mosteller & John W Tukey |title=Statistical problems of the Kinsey report on sexual behavior in the human male |year=1954 |publisher=American Statistical Association
*cite book |last=Hoaglin, David C; Frederick Mosteller & John W Tukey (eds) |title=Understanding Robust and Exploratory Data Analysis |year=1983 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-09777-2 |oclc=8495063
*cite book |last=Hoaglin, David C; Frederick Mosteller & John W Tukey (eds) |title=Exploring Data Tables, Trends and Shapes |year=1985 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-09776-4 |oclc=11550398
*cite book |last=Hoaglin, David C; Frederick Mosteller & John W Tukey (eds) |title=Fundamentals of exploratory analysis of variance |year=1991 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-52735-1 |oclc=23180322
*cite book |last=Morganthaler, Stephan & John W Tukey (eds) |title= Configural polysampling: a route to practical robustness |year=1991 |publisher=Wiley |isbn= 0-471-52372-0 |oclc=22381036
*cite book |last=Mosteller, Frederick & John W Tukey |title=Data analysis and regression : a second course in statistics |year=1977 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn= 0-201-04854-X |oclc=3235470
*cite book |last=Tukey |first=John W |title=Convergence and Uniformity in Topology |year=1940 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn= 0-691-09568-X |oclc=227948615
*cite book |last=Tukey |first=John W |title=Exploratory Data Analysis |year=1977 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |isbn= 0-201-07616-0 |oclc=3058187
*cite book |last=Tukey, John W; Ian C Ross; Verna Bertrand; et al. |title=Index to statistics and probability |year=1973– |publisher=R & D Press |isbn= 0-88274-001-6 |oclc=745715

; "The collected works of John W Tukey", edited by William S Cleveland
*cite book |last=Brillinger |first=David R (ed) |title=Volume I: Time series, 1949–1964 |year=1984 |publisher=Wadsworth |isbn=0-534-03303-2 |oclc=10998116
*cite book |last=Brillinger |first=David R (ed) |title=Volume II: Time series, 1965–1984 |year=1985 |publisher=Wadsworth |isbn=0-534-03304-0 |oclc=159731367
*cite book |last=Jones |first=Lyle V (ed) |title=Volume III: Philosophy and principles of data analysis, 1949–1964 |year=1985 |publisher=Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole |isbn=0-534-03305-9 |oclc=159731367
*cite book |last=Jones |first=Lyle V (ed) |title=Volume IV: Philosophy and principles of data analysis, 1965–1986 |year=1986 |publisher=Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole |isbn=0-534-05101-4 |oclc=165832503
*cite book |last=Cleveland |first=William S (ed) |title=Volume V: Graphics, 1965–1985 |year=1988 |publisher=Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole |isbn=0-534-05102-2 |oclc=230023465
*cite book |last=Mallows |first=Colin L (ed) |title=Volume VI: More mathematical, 1938–1984 |year=1990 |publisher=Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole |isbn=0-534-05103-0 |oclc=232966724
*cite book |last=Cox |first=David R (ed) |title=Volume VII: Factorial and ANOVA, 1949–1962 |year=1992 |publisher=Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole |isbn=0-534-05104-9 |oclc=165366083
*cite book |last=Braun |first=Henry I (ed) |title=Volume VIII: Multiple comparisons, 1949–1983 |year=1994 |publisher=Chapman & Hall/CRC |isbn=0-412-05121-4 |oclc=165099761

;About John Tukey
*
* [http://www.princeton.edu/~mudd/finding_aids/mathoral/pmc41.htm Interview of John Tukey about his experience at Princeton]

References

External links

* [http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~brill/Papers/life.pdf John W. Tukey: His Life and Professional Contributions] published in "The Annals of Statistics"
* [http://www.ams.org/notices/200202/fea-tukey.pdf John Wilder Tukey (1915–2000)] in "Notices of the American Mathematical Society"
* [http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/departments/sia/tukey/index.html Memories of John Tukey]
* [http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/departments/sia/tukey/bio.html Short biography] by Mary Bittrich
* [http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/ms/departments/sia/tukey/nytimes.html Obituary] from "The New York Times"
* [http://projecteuclid.org/Dienst/UI/1.0/Summarize/euclid.ss/1076102421 "Remembering John W. Tukey"] , special issue of "Statistical Science"
*

Persondata
NAME= Tukey, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Tukey, John Wilder
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American Mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH= June 16, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH= New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
DATE OF DEATH= 2000-7-26
PLACE OF DEATH= New Brunswick, NJ, USA