William Gemmell Cochran
Encyclopedia
William Gemmell Cochran (15 July 1909, Rutherglen
– 29 March 1980, Orleans, Massachusetts
) was a prominent statistician
; he was born in Scotland
but spent most of his life in the United States
.
Cochran studied mathematics
at the University of Glasgow
and the University of Cambridge
. He worked at Rothamsted Experimental Station
from 1934 to 1939 when he moved to the United States. There he helped establish several departments of statistics. His longest spell in any one university was at Harvard which he joined in 1957 and from which he retired in 1976.
Rutherglen
Rutherglen is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1975, it lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow. In 1996 Rutherglen was reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.-History:...
– 29 March 1980, Orleans, Massachusetts
Orleans, Massachusetts
Orleans is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,890 at the 2010 census....
) was a prominent 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....
; he was born in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
but spent most of his life in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Cochran studied mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
and the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He worked at Rothamsted Experimental Station
Rothamsted Experimental Station
The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, is located at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, England. It is now known as Rothamsted Research...
from 1934 to 1939 when he moved to the United States. There he helped establish several departments of statistics. His longest spell in any one university was at Harvard which he joined in 1957 and from which he retired in 1976.
Writings
Cochran wrote many articles and books. His books became standard texts:- Experimental designs (with Gertrude Mary CoxGertrude Mary CoxGertrude Mary Cox was an influential American statistician and founder of the department of Experimental Statistics at North Carolina State University. She was later appointed director of both the Institute of Statistics of the Consolidated University of North Carolina and the Statistics Research...
) 1950 ISBN 0-471-54567-8
- Statistical Methods applied to Experiments in Agriculture and Biology by George W. SnedecorGeorge W. SnedecorGeorge Waddel Snedecor was an American mathematician and statistician. He contributed to the foundations of analysis of variance, data analysis, experimental design, and statistical methodology. Snedecor's F distribution and the George W...
(Cochran contributed from the fifth (1956) edition) ISBN 0-8138-1561-4 - Planning and analysis of observational studies (edited by Lincoln E. Moses and Frederick Mosteller) 1983.