Person: Weldon, Walter Frank Raphael
Raphael Weldon was a pioneer in the application of Statistics to biology and a founder of the journal Biometrika.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Walter was a journalist and chemist, and he moved around the country so frequently that it was not possible for Raphael to attend school until he reached thirteen years of age.
- Raphael did receive some tutoring from a local clergyman before he was thirteen years old then, in 1873, he entered Mr Watson's boarding school at Caversham near Reading.
- He was taught mathematics by Henrici who impressed Weldon more than any of his other lecturers; he later wrote that Henrici was the first naturally gifted teacher he had studied under.
- In 1877 Weldon went to King's College, London, his aim still being to enter the medical profession.
- She played a large role in Weldon's scientific work, assisting him on many of his projects.
- By 1888 they were spending as much time there as Weldon's duties at Cambridge would allow, and he only went to the university to give his lectures.
- Realising that his mathematical skills were somewhat less than he wished, Weldon read widely studying, in particular, the leading works by the French mathematicians on the calculus of probability.
- Weldon was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in May 1890 and later that year he was appointed Jodrell professor at University College, London, taking up his duties in 1891.
- Weldon asked the questions that drove Pearson to some of his most significant contributions.
- What were the questions which Weldon asked Pearson?
- By 1893 Weldon was serving on a Royal Society Committee along with Galton and Pearson 'For the Purpose of conducting Statistical Enquiry into the Variability of Organisms'.
- Weldon proposed a journal for biometrics in a letter written to Pearson dated 16 November 1899.
- The journal Biometrika was named within weeks and Weldon and Pearson became joint editors.
- Weldon was appointed to a chair in Oxford in 1900 and he held this post until his death in 1906.
- The debate, which was conducted before a large and somewhat agitated audience, resolved itself into a dialectical duel between the president of the section and professor Weldon, and developed quite a considerable amount of heat.
- It is likely that the illness became serious due to overwork and Weldon's refusal to stop work when he became ill.
Born 15 March 1860, Highgate, London, England. Died 13 April 1906, London, England.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin England, Statistics
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
