A black-and-white portrait of an older man with short, neatly combed gray hair, wearing a suit and striped tie. His serious expression and formal attire suggest a professional or authoritative role, giving the image a classic, dignified tone.
A black-and-white portrait of an older man with short, neatly combed gray hair, wearing a suit and striped tie. His serious expression and formal attire suggest a professional or authoritative role, giving the image a classic, dignified tone.

John Wilder Tukey

Historical

Historical

Jun 16, 1915

-

Jul 26, 2000

A black-and-white portrait of an older man with short, neatly combed gray hair, wearing a suit and striped tie. His serious expression and formal attire suggest a professional or authoritative role, giving the image a classic, dignified tone.

John Wilder Tukey

Historical

Historical

Jun 16, 1915

-

Jul 26, 2000

Biography

FAQ

Quotes

Biography

John Wilder Tukey was an American mathematician and statistician who was considered one of the pioneers in mathematics and statistics. Tukey was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1915 and was raised by his parents, who were both teachers, and he was mainly homeschooled. He had always been good at math, so he enrolled at Brown University, and by 1937, he had completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. He then did his Ph.D. in Mathematics at Princeton University, where he submitted his thesis on topology in 1939.

Tukey served in the Second World War as a statistician at the Fire Control Research Office, contributing to the military projects in cryptography and ballistics. After the war, he returned to Princeton University and AT&T Bell Laboratories, contributing significantly to developing statistics and data analysis. He also worked in many fields apart from academia, such as telecommunications and television. Some of Tukey's contributions include using terms such as ‘bit’ and ‘software’ and developing robust statistical techniques like the box plot and Tukey’s range test.

In his lifetime, Tukey was awarded many times, including the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982. He retired in 1985 but remained active in mathematics, statistics, and data analysis until his death in 2000.

Quotes

"The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard."

"Exploratory data analysis can never be the whole story, but nothing else can serve as the foundation for discovering the unexpected."

"Far better an approximate answer to the right question than an exact answer to the wrong one."

"The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data."

"If we need to make inferences, better we do so carefully, acknowledging what we do not know."

"Data analysis is not just about finding patterns, but about finding meaning."

"It is far better to adapt the model to the data than to adapt the data to the model."

"Statisticians must avoid becoming the guardians of proven truth."

"The computer is not the answer; the answer is in the data."

"Software is at least as important as hardware."

"Bits are the smallest units of information, and every modern technology is built on them."

"We must learn how to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data without assuming too much."

"A good statistician is a detective, uncovering clues from the data without prejudice."

"Without exploratory data analysis, you are blind to the data’s true nature."

"Robust methods make statistics practical in a messy world."

FAQ

Who is John Tukey?

John Tukey is most famous for his work in statistics, his development of the FFT algorithm with James Cooley, and his work in exploratory data analysis.

What is EDA?

EDA is a statistical method introduced by Tukey in the 1970s. It focuses on graphical data display without making any assumptions.

What do you mean by the term Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)?

The FFT is a Tukey and James Cooley algorithm for efficiently calculating the Fourier transform, commonly used in signal processing and image analysis.

What does “bit” mean, and why is it important?

Tukey introduced ‘bit’ in 1947, a binary unit or digit. It is a crucial concept in computer science and telecommunications.

What is Tukey’s range test?

Tukey’s range test is a statistical technique used to compare the means of two or more groups and determine whether there is a significant difference between the means, especially in the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

What can be understood from the box plot?

For his work in statistics and signal processing, he received the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982.

What accolades did Turkey get?

For his work in statistics and signal processing, he received the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982.

What was Turkey's contribution to the Second World War?

Tukey also served in the military during World War II, where he worked on projects such as cryptography and ballistics analysis, where he also worked with Alan Turing.

What did Turkey do for data science?

Tukey is regarded as one of the founders of modern data science because of his contribution towards techniques such as EDA.

What is the Tukey lambda distribution?

The Tukey lambda distribution is a set of probability distributions introduced by Tukey to ease the process of statistical inference.

Biography

FAQ

Quotes

Biography

John Wilder Tukey was an American mathematician and statistician who was considered one of the pioneers in mathematics and statistics. Tukey was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1915 and was raised by his parents, who were both teachers, and he was mainly homeschooled. He had always been good at math, so he enrolled at Brown University, and by 1937, he had completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. He then did his Ph.D. in Mathematics at Princeton University, where he submitted his thesis on topology in 1939.

Tukey served in the Second World War as a statistician at the Fire Control Research Office, contributing to the military projects in cryptography and ballistics. After the war, he returned to Princeton University and AT&T Bell Laboratories, contributing significantly to developing statistics and data analysis. He also worked in many fields apart from academia, such as telecommunications and television. Some of Tukey's contributions include using terms such as ‘bit’ and ‘software’ and developing robust statistical techniques like the box plot and Tukey’s range test.

In his lifetime, Tukey was awarded many times, including the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982. He retired in 1985 but remained active in mathematics, statistics, and data analysis until his death in 2000.

Quotes

"The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard."

"Exploratory data analysis can never be the whole story, but nothing else can serve as the foundation for discovering the unexpected."

"Far better an approximate answer to the right question than an exact answer to the wrong one."

"The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data."

"If we need to make inferences, better we do so carefully, acknowledging what we do not know."

"Data analysis is not just about finding patterns, but about finding meaning."

"It is far better to adapt the model to the data than to adapt the data to the model."

"Statisticians must avoid becoming the guardians of proven truth."

"The computer is not the answer; the answer is in the data."

"Software is at least as important as hardware."

"Bits are the smallest units of information, and every modern technology is built on them."

"We must learn how to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data without assuming too much."

"A good statistician is a detective, uncovering clues from the data without prejudice."

"Without exploratory data analysis, you are blind to the data’s true nature."

"Robust methods make statistics practical in a messy world."

FAQ

Who is John Tukey?

John Tukey is most famous for his work in statistics, his development of the FFT algorithm with James Cooley, and his work in exploratory data analysis.

What is EDA?

EDA is a statistical method introduced by Tukey in the 1970s. It focuses on graphical data display without making any assumptions.

What do you mean by the term Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)?

The FFT is a Tukey and James Cooley algorithm for efficiently calculating the Fourier transform, commonly used in signal processing and image analysis.

What does “bit” mean, and why is it important?

Tukey introduced ‘bit’ in 1947, a binary unit or digit. It is a crucial concept in computer science and telecommunications.

What is Tukey’s range test?

Tukey’s range test is a statistical technique used to compare the means of two or more groups and determine whether there is a significant difference between the means, especially in the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

What can be understood from the box plot?

For his work in statistics and signal processing, he received the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982.

What accolades did Turkey get?

For his work in statistics and signal processing, he received the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982.

What was Turkey's contribution to the Second World War?

Tukey also served in the military during World War II, where he worked on projects such as cryptography and ballistics analysis, where he also worked with Alan Turing.

What did Turkey do for data science?

Tukey is regarded as one of the founders of modern data science because of his contribution towards techniques such as EDA.

What is the Tukey lambda distribution?

The Tukey lambda distribution is a set of probability distributions introduced by Tukey to ease the process of statistical inference.

Biography

FAQ

Quotes

Biography

John Wilder Tukey was an American mathematician and statistician who was considered one of the pioneers in mathematics and statistics. Tukey was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1915 and was raised by his parents, who were both teachers, and he was mainly homeschooled. He had always been good at math, so he enrolled at Brown University, and by 1937, he had completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. He then did his Ph.D. in Mathematics at Princeton University, where he submitted his thesis on topology in 1939.

Tukey served in the Second World War as a statistician at the Fire Control Research Office, contributing to the military projects in cryptography and ballistics. After the war, he returned to Princeton University and AT&T Bell Laboratories, contributing significantly to developing statistics and data analysis. He also worked in many fields apart from academia, such as telecommunications and television. Some of Tukey's contributions include using terms such as ‘bit’ and ‘software’ and developing robust statistical techniques like the box plot and Tukey’s range test.

In his lifetime, Tukey was awarded many times, including the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982. He retired in 1985 but remained active in mathematics, statistics, and data analysis until his death in 2000.

Quotes

"The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard."

"Exploratory data analysis can never be the whole story, but nothing else can serve as the foundation for discovering the unexpected."

"Far better an approximate answer to the right question than an exact answer to the wrong one."

"The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data."

"If we need to make inferences, better we do so carefully, acknowledging what we do not know."

"Data analysis is not just about finding patterns, but about finding meaning."

"It is far better to adapt the model to the data than to adapt the data to the model."

"Statisticians must avoid becoming the guardians of proven truth."

"The computer is not the answer; the answer is in the data."

"Software is at least as important as hardware."

"Bits are the smallest units of information, and every modern technology is built on them."

"We must learn how to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data without assuming too much."

"A good statistician is a detective, uncovering clues from the data without prejudice."

"Without exploratory data analysis, you are blind to the data’s true nature."

"Robust methods make statistics practical in a messy world."

FAQ

Who is John Tukey?

John Tukey is most famous for his work in statistics, his development of the FFT algorithm with James Cooley, and his work in exploratory data analysis.

What is EDA?

EDA is a statistical method introduced by Tukey in the 1970s. It focuses on graphical data display without making any assumptions.

What do you mean by the term Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)?

The FFT is a Tukey and James Cooley algorithm for efficiently calculating the Fourier transform, commonly used in signal processing and image analysis.

What does “bit” mean, and why is it important?

Tukey introduced ‘bit’ in 1947, a binary unit or digit. It is a crucial concept in computer science and telecommunications.

What is Tukey’s range test?

Tukey’s range test is a statistical technique used to compare the means of two or more groups and determine whether there is a significant difference between the means, especially in the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

What can be understood from the box plot?

For his work in statistics and signal processing, he received the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982.

What accolades did Turkey get?

For his work in statistics and signal processing, he received the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982.

What was Turkey's contribution to the Second World War?

Tukey also served in the military during World War II, where he worked on projects such as cryptography and ballistics analysis, where he also worked with Alan Turing.

What did Turkey do for data science?

Tukey is regarded as one of the founders of modern data science because of his contribution towards techniques such as EDA.

What is the Tukey lambda distribution?

The Tukey lambda distribution is a set of probability distributions introduced by Tukey to ease the process of statistical inference.

Life and achievements

Early life

John Tukey was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1915. His parents, Ralph and Adah Tukey, were both teachers and realized that their son was a prodigy. John’s mother was his teacher, ensuring he was well-educated, especially in mathematics and science. This helped him advance in his learning, and he joined Brown University at the age of sixteen.

Tukey attended Brown University, where he majored in chemistry but took mathematics courses at the same time. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1936 and a master’s in chemistry in 1937. He then joined Princeton University, where he did his PhD in mathematics in 1939, with his area of interest being topology. His initial education in chemistry and mathematics laid a good platform for him to start applying mathematics in solving real-life situations.

Legacy

John Tukey has left an indelible mark in statistics, data science, and other fields. His contribution to data analysis through exploratory data analysis (EDA) made it possible for statisticians to use graphical methods to discover patterns. Tukey’s approach allowed analysts to look at the data without being confined by a particular set of assumptions, which is still relevant in data science. The box plot, stem-and-leaf plot, and other tools he introduced are still used today to help analysts display and summarize large data sets.

Tukey’s contribution was not only to EDA; he made further contributions. His co-creation of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm made him contribute significantly to signal processing, telecommunications, and audio analysis, as it enhanced data processing speed. He also impacted the computing world by introducing terms such as ‘bit’ and ‘software’ into the language. Such advancements made Tukey one of the leading scholars in the area where statistics, mathematics, and computer science met.

Tukey’s influence was academic and social, as he contributed to society in many ways. He has worked for many government and corporate organizations, including analyzing NBC’s election polls and advising on environmental matters. He also played a part in criticizing the statistical techniques employed in Alfred Kinsey’s much-discussed Kinsey Report on Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. This made Tukey’s work applicable across many disciplines, and thus, his ideas continued to be relevant in fields such as psychology, economics, and engineering, among others.

These achievements earned him several awards, such as the National Medal of Science in 1973 and the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1982. After retiring from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985, Tukey’s ideas and contributions remained relevant in the growth of statistics, data analysis, and computation. His death in 2000 signified the closure of a very inspiring career, but his techniques and concepts are still relevant in the current data analysis.

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Your donation today shapes the future of how families and friends connect.
You will become a featured Ambassador.
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Your donation today shapes the future of how families and friends connect.
You will become a featured Ambassador.
Learn more ->

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Milestone moments

Feb 13, 1939

He has a PhD in Mathematics from Princeton University.
John Tukey was born in 1915 and completed his Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1939.
His doctoral thesis was on abstract mathematics, specifically On Denumerability in Topology, but Tukey soon moved to more practical fields.
He then went to work at Princeton University, where he started combining mathematics and statistics, a precursor to his later work in data analysis.
This accomplishment set the stage for Tukey’s career, encompassing several disciplines and impacting mathematics's theoretical and practical aspects.

Mar 1, 1947

Coining the Term "Bit"
In 1947, Tukey worked with John von Neumann on developing early computer systems. During this time, he introduced the term ‘bit,’ an abbreviation for binary digit.
It was adopted into digital computing, which referred to the smallest unit of information in the binary code system used in all modern computers.
Tukey’s work in the language of computing paved the way for the future of information technology and his entry into computer science.
This milestone showed how Tukey could move between disciplines and bring mathematical thinking to new fields.

Mar 12, 1965

The history of the Cooley-Tukey Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
Tukey and Cooley James, 1965) developed the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), an algorithm that changed the face of signal processing.
The FFT allowed for the efficient calculation of a sequence's Fourier transforms used in telecommunication, image processing, and audio analysis.
This development contributed to the growth of computational mathematics and benefited many industries, including medicine and engineering.
The FFT is still one of Tukey’s most influential ideas, demonstrating the extent of his influence on the discipline's theoretical and applied aspects.

Jan 15, 1973

Given the National Medal of Science
1973, President Richard Nixon honored Tukey with the National Medal of Science for his immense contribution to statistics and data analysis.
This award emphasized Tukey’s contribution to establishing essential tools in data analysis, including the EDA and robust statistics.
This prestigious award made Tukey one of the most prominent American scientists of the twentieth century, proving his work's significance in several fields.
The National Medal of Science further enhanced Tukey’s standing as a statistician in academia and the real world.

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