Reginald Hawthorn Hooker
Encyclopedia
Reginald Hawthorn Hooker (12 January 1867 - 2 June 1944) English
civil servant, statistician
and meteorologist. Hooker was a pioneer in the application of correlation analysis
to economics
and agricultural meteorology
.
the fourth son of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
, the distinguished botanist and friend of Charles Darwin
and his first wife Frances Harriet Henslow (1825–1874), daughter of John Stevens Henslow
. He was educated in Paris and at Trinity College, Cambridge
where he read mathematics (Junior Optime BA 1889, MA 1893). In 1891 he went to the Royal Statistical Society
as assistant secretary and sub-editor of its journal. In 1895 he joined the Statistical Branch of the Board of Agriculture
; he remained with the Board, later re-named the Ministry of Agriculture, until his retirement in 1927. He married Olive Marion Rücker (1878–1933) in 1911 and they had three sons and a daughter.
Hooker was a pioneer in applying correlation analysis
to socio-economic data. He worked very closely with his friend Udny Yule
, who had developed some of the basic theory and was interested in the same kind of applications. Yule recalled how Hooker “joined with me in the early days of our acquaintance to form a very select Statistical Dining Club of two members, which met fairly regularly after meetings of the Society.” In the preface to the Introduction to the Theory of Statistics Yule gave fulsome thanks to Hooker for his help. In 1907 Hooker published a paper on weather and crops which Ronald Fisher
later described as "magnificent". Hooker subsequently wrote a number of papers on meteorology. In 1920 1921 he served as President of the Royal Meteorological Society
. He was a very effective president, as Dines
recalled.
Like his contemporary and fellow civil servant, W. F. Sheppard
, Hooker was an out-of hours statistician. Although his researches were connected with food and agriculture, he did not carry them out as part of his official duties. Indeed Yule commented, “The importance and value of Hooker’s scientific work ... was never, in my opinion, appreciated at its proper worth by the Ministry at the time when he was still in its service.” Yule also noted that, when Hooker retired, he chose to live “far away from any thoughts of the Ministry.” In his obituary Dines noted that meteorologists had not followed up Hooker’s work on weather and crops. Hooker is chiefly remembered today for the pioneering work on time series analysis in his papers of 1901-5.
As a baby RHH was quite poorly and his father and Darwin exchanged anxious letters over his health
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
civil servant, statistician
Statistician
A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
and meteorologist. Hooker was a pioneer in the application of correlation analysis
Canonical correlation
In statistics, canonical correlation analysis, introduced by Harold Hotelling, is a way of making sense of cross-covariance matrices. If we have two sets of variables, x_1, \dots, x_n and y_1, \dots, y_m, and there are correlations among the variables, then canonical correlation analysis will...
to economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and agricultural meteorology
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology is an international journal for the publication of original articles and reviews on the inter-relationship between meteorology and the fields of plant, animal and soil sciences, ecology, and biogeochemistry The audience of the journal is meteorologists, soil...
.
Biography
Reginald Hawthorn Hooker was born at KewRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
the fourth son of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
, the distinguished botanist and friend of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and his first wife Frances Harriet Henslow (1825–1874), daughter of John Stevens Henslow
John Stevens Henslow
John Stevens Henslow was an English clergyman, botanist and geologist. He is best remembered as friend and mentor to his pupil Charles Darwin.- Early life :...
. He was educated in Paris and 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...
where he read mathematics (Junior Optime BA 1889, MA 1893). In 1891 he went to 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...
as assistant secretary and sub-editor of its journal. In 1895 he joined the Statistical Branch of the Board of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries...
; he remained with the Board, later re-named the Ministry of Agriculture, until his retirement in 1927. He married Olive Marion Rücker (1878–1933) in 1911 and they had three sons and a daughter.
Hooker was a pioneer in applying correlation analysis
Canonical correlation
In statistics, canonical correlation analysis, introduced by Harold Hotelling, is a way of making sense of cross-covariance matrices. If we have two sets of variables, x_1, \dots, x_n and y_1, \dots, y_m, and there are correlations among the variables, then canonical correlation analysis will...
to socio-economic data. He worked very closely with his friend Udny Yule
Udny Yule
George Udny Yule FRS , usually known as Udny Yule, was a British statistician, born at Beech Hill, a house in Morham near Haddington, Scotland and died in Cambridge, England. His father, also George Udny Yule, and a nephew, were knighted. His uncle was the noted orientalist Sir Henry Yule...
, who had developed some of the basic theory and was interested in the same kind of applications. Yule recalled how Hooker “joined with me in the early days of our acquaintance to form a very select Statistical Dining Club of two members, which met fairly regularly after meetings of the Society.” In the preface to the Introduction to the Theory of Statistics Yule gave fulsome thanks to Hooker for his help. In 1907 Hooker published a paper on weather and crops which Ronald 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...
later described as "magnificent". Hooker subsequently wrote a number of papers on meteorology. In 1920 1921 he served as President of the Royal Meteorological Society
Royal Meteorological Society
The Royal Meteorological Society traces its origins back to 3 April 1850 when the British Meteorological Society was formed as a society the objects of which should be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and of meteorological phenomena in general...
. He was a very effective president, as Dines
John Somers Dines
John Somers Dines MA was an English meteorologist.Dines was born in the Cuckfield district, West Sussex, the son of meteorologist William Henry Dines BA FRS, and grandson of meteorologist George Dines. He graduated from Cambridge in 1906, with a degree in mathematics...
recalled.
Like his contemporary and fellow civil servant, W. F. Sheppard
William Fleetwood Sheppard
William Fleetwood Sheppard Australian-British civil servant, mathematician and statistician remembered for his work in finite differences, interpolation and statistical theory, known in particular for the eponymous Sheppard’s corrections.William Fleetwood Sheppard was born near Sydney, Australia...
, Hooker was an out-of hours statistician. Although his researches were connected with food and agriculture, he did not carry them out as part of his official duties. Indeed Yule commented, “The importance and value of Hooker’s scientific work ... was never, in my opinion, appreciated at its proper worth by the Ministry at the time when he was still in its service.” Yule also noted that, when Hooker retired, he chose to live “far away from any thoughts of the Ministry.” In his obituary Dines noted that meteorologists had not followed up Hooker’s work on weather and crops. Hooker is chiefly remembered today for the pioneering work on time series analysis in his papers of 1901-5.
Writings of R. H. Hooker
The bibliography in Yule's obituary lists 22 papers of which the following are a sample.- On the Relation Between Wages and the Numbers Employed in the Coal Mining Industry, 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 :...
, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Dec., 1894), pp. 627-642. - Correlation of the Marriage-Rate with Trade, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Sep., 1901), pp. 485-492. (reprinted in The Foundations of Econometric Analysis edited by David F. Hendry and Mary S. Morgan, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1995.)
- The Suspension of the Berlin Produce Exchange and its Effect upon Corn Prices, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec., 1901), pp. 574-613. (reprinted in Classic Futures edited by Lester G. TelserLester G. TelserLester Greenspan Telser is an American economist and Professor Emeritus in Economics at the University of Chicago.He is a graduate of Roosevelt University. He received his Ph.D...
, London : Risk, 2000.) - On the Correlation of Successive Observations, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 68, No. 4 (Dec., 1905), pp. 696-703.
- (with G. U. Yule) Note on Estimating the Relative Influence of Two Variables upon a Third, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Mar., 1906), pp. 197-200.
- Correlation of the Weather and Crops, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 70, No. 1 (Mar., 1907), pp. 1-51.
- Forecasting the Crops from the Weather, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 47, (1921) pp. 75-99.
- The Weather and the Crops in Eastern England, 1885-1921, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 48, (1922) pp. 115-38.
Obituaries
- G. Udny Yule (1944) Reginald Hawthorn Hooker, M.A., Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 107, No. 1, pp. 74-77.
- J. S. DinesJohn Somers DinesJohn Somers Dines MA was an English meteorologist.Dines was born in the Cuckfield district, West Sussex, the son of meteorologist William Henry Dines BA FRS, and grandson of meteorologist George Dines. He graduated from Cambridge in 1906, with a degree in mathematics...
(1944) Obituary: Mr. R. H. Hooker, M. A., Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 70, pp. 232-233.
Discussions
- J. L. Klein (1997) Statistical Visions in Time, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- M. S. Morgan (1997) Searching for Causal Relations in Economic Statistics, in V. R. McKim & S. P. Turner (eds) Causality in Crisis, Notre Dame Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.
External links
For information about the Hooker family seeAs a baby RHH was quite poorly and his father and Darwin exchanged anxious letters over his health