Finding social gravity: Adolphe Quetelet's formative influence on the International Statistical Institute (ISI)


Kathryn Barber, York University

The ‘long 19th century’ was marked by dramatic changes to to understanding the social world. Academic disciplines were founded, dramatically changed or eliminated such as sociology, political economy or phrenology. During this period, the practice of statistics began transitioning from the methodologically ambiguous study of all facets of the state to applied mathematical discipline driven overwhelmingly by Belgium’s Astronomer Royale, Adolphe Quetelet search for social gravity. In this presentation based on an analysis of primary historical texts, I reconstruct Adolphe Quetelet’s now defunct science of la physique sociale, and describe its epistemological influence on the premier statistical organization of the day, International Statistical Institute.

This paper will be presented at the following session: