Dennis Lindley
Encyclopedia
Dennis Victor Lindley is a British
statistician
, decision theorist and leading advocate of Bayesian statistics
.
Dennis Lindley grew up in the south-west London suburb of Surbiton
. He was an only child and his father was a local building contractor. Dennis recalled (to Adrian Smith
) that the family had "little culture" and that both his parents were "proud of the fact that they had never read a book." The school Dennis attended, Tiffin School, introduced him to "ordinary cultural activities." From there Lindley went to read mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge
in 1941. During the war the degree course lasted only 2 years and, on finishing, Lindley had a choice between entering the armed forces and joining the Civil Service as a statistician. He chose the latter and, after taking a short course given by Oscar Irwin
which he "did not understand", he joined a section of the Ministry of Supply
doing statistical work under George Barnard
.
After the war Lindley spent some time at the National Physical Laboratory
before returning to Cambridge for a further year of study. From 1948 to 1960 he worked at Cambridge, starting as a demonstrator and leaving as director of the Statistical Laboratory. In 1960 Lindley left to take up a new chair at Aberystwyth
. In 1967 he moved to University College London
. In 1977 Lindley took early retirement at the age of 54. From then until 1987 he travelled the world as an "itinerant scholar." He has continued to write and to attend conferences. He was awarded the Royal Statistical Society
's Guy Medal
in Gold in 2002.
Lindley first encountered statistics as a set of techniques and in his early years at Cambridge he worked to find a mathematical basis for the subject. His lectures on probability were based on Kolmogorov's
approach which at that time had no following in Britain. In 1954 Lindley met Savage
who was also looking for a deeper justification of the ideas of Neyman
, Pearson
, Wald
and Fisher
. Both found that justification in Bayesian theory and they turned into critics of the classical statistical inference they had hoped to justify. Lindley became a great missionary for the Bayesian gospel. The atmosphere of the Bayesian revival is captured in a comment by Rivett on Lindley's move to University College London and the premier chair of statistics in Britain: "it was as though a Jehovah's Witness had been elected Pope."
There is a photograph of the "archetypal progressive with Volvo, Guardian and green wellies" at
For Lindley’s PhD students see
Bernardo recalls Lindley's role in the Valencia meetings
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
statistician
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, decision theorist and leading advocate of Bayesian statistics
Bayesian statistics
Bayesian statistics is that subset of the entire field of statistics in which the evidence about the true state of the world is expressed in terms of degrees of belief or, more specifically, Bayesian probabilities...
.
Dennis Lindley grew up in the south-west London suburb of Surbiton
Surbiton
Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is situated next to the River Thames, with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand, spacious 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates...
. He was an only child and his father was a local building contractor. Dennis recalled (to Adrian Smith
Adrian Smith (academic)
Sir Adrian Frederick Melhuish Smith FRS is a distinguished British statistician and formerly Principal of Queen Mary, University of London. He was previously at Imperial College, London where he was head of the Mathematics Department. He is a member of the governing body of the London Business...
) that the family had "little culture" and that both his parents were "proud of the fact that they had never read a book." The school Dennis attended, Tiffin School, introduced him to "ordinary cultural activities." From there Lindley went to read mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
in 1941. During the war the degree course lasted only 2 years and, on finishing, Lindley had a choice between entering the armed forces and joining the Civil Service as a statistician. He chose the latter and, after taking a short course given by Oscar Irwin
Joseph Oscar Irwin
Joseph Oscar Irwin British statistician who advanced the use of statistical methods in biological assay and other fields of laboratory medicine. Irwin’s grasp of modern mathematical statistics distinguished him not only from older medical statisticians like Major Greenwood but contemporaries like...
which he "did not understand", he joined a section of the Ministry of Supply
Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
doing statistical work under George Barnard
George Alfred Barnard
George Alfred Barnard was a British statistician known particularly for his work on the foundations of statistics and on quality control.-Biography:...
.
After the war Lindley spent some time at the National Physical Laboratory
National Physical Laboratory, UK
The National Physical Laboratory is the national measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, based at Bushy Park in Teddington, London, England. It is the largest applied physics organisation in the UK.-Description:...
before returning to Cambridge for a further year of study. From 1948 to 1960 he worked at Cambridge, starting as a demonstrator and leaving as director of the Statistical Laboratory. In 1960 Lindley left to take up a new chair at Aberystwyth
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...
. In 1967 he moved to University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. In 1977 Lindley took early retirement at the age of 54. From then until 1987 he travelled the world as an "itinerant scholar." He has continued to write and to attend conferences. He was awarded the Royal Statistical Society
Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK.-History:It was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London , though a perhaps unrelated London Statistical Society was in existence at least as early as 1824...
's Guy Medal
Guy Medal
The Guy Medals are awarded by the Royal Statistical Society in three categories; Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Gold Medal is awarded triennially, the other two are awarded annually...
in Gold in 2002.
Lindley first encountered statistics as a set of techniques and in his early years at Cambridge he worked to find a mathematical basis for the subject. His lectures on probability were based on Kolmogorov's
Andrey Kolmogorov
Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov was a Soviet mathematician, preeminent in the 20th century, who advanced various scientific fields, among them probability theory, topology, intuitionistic logic, turbulence, classical mechanics and computational complexity.-Early life:Kolmogorov was born at Tambov...
approach which at that time had no following in Britain. In 1954 Lindley met Savage
Leonard Jimmie Savage
Leonard Jimmie Savage was an American mathematician and statistician. Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said Savage was "one of the few people I have met whom I would unhesitatingly call a genius."...
who was also looking for a deeper justification of the ideas of Neyman
Jerzy Neyman
Jerzy Neyman , born Jerzy Spława-Neyman, was a Polish American mathematician and statistician who spent most of his professional career at the University of California, Berkeley.-Life and career:...
, Pearson
Egon Pearson
Egon Sharpe Pearson, CBE FRS was the only son of Karl Pearson, and like his father, a leading British statistician....
, Wald
Abraham Wald
- See also :* Sequential probability ratio test * Wald distribution* Wald–Wolfowitz runs test...
and Fisher
Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher FRS was an English statistician, evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and geneticist. Among other things, Fisher is well known for his contributions to statistics by creating Fisher's exact test and Fisher's equation...
. Both found that justification in Bayesian theory and they turned into critics of the classical statistical inference they had hoped to justify. Lindley became a great missionary for the Bayesian gospel. The atmosphere of the Bayesian revival is captured in a comment by Rivett on Lindley's move to University College London and the premier chair of statistics in Britain: "it was as though a Jehovah's Witness had been elected Pope."
Publications
- (with J. C. P. MillerJ. C. P. MillerJeffrey Charles Percy Miller was an English mathematician and computing pioneer. He worked in number theory and on geometry, particularly polyhedra, where Miller's monster refers to the great dirhombicosidodecahedron....
) Cambridge Elementary Statistical Tables, Cambridge. 1953. - Introduction to Probability and Statistics from a Bayesian Viewpoint, 2 volumes, Cambridge 1965.
- Bayesian Statistics : a Review, SIAM. 1971.
- Making Decisions, Wiley-Interscience. 1971.
- (with W.F. Scott) New Cambridge Elementary Statistical Tables, Cambridge. 1984. The bibliography in Freeman and Smith lists 118 articles up to 1993.
- "The Philosophy of Statistics," Journal of the Royal Statistical SocietyJournal of the Royal Statistical SocietyThe Journal of the Royal Statistical Society is a series of three peer-reviewed statistics journals published by Blackwell Publishing for the London-based Royal Statistical Society.- History :...
: Series D (The Statistician), Vol. 49, No. 3, (2000), pp. 293–337. - Understanding Uncertainty, Wiley-Interscience, 2006.
70th Birthday Tribute
- P.R. Freeman and A.F.M. Smith (editors) Aspects of Uncertainty : A Tribute to D.V. Lindley Wiley 1994. This contains a biography and articles by various authors.
- P. Rivett (1995) Review of Aspects of Uncertainty. Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 46, No. 5 (May, 1995), pp. 663–665
External links
There is a photograph of the "archetypal progressive with Volvo, Guardian and green wellies" at
- Lindley on the Portraits of Statisticians page.
For Lindley’s PhD students see
Bernardo recalls Lindley's role in the Valencia meetings