Lexis

Wilhelm Lexis

Born: 17 July 1837 in Eschweiler, Germany
Died: 25 Oct 1914 in Göttingen, Germany

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From 1876-79 Lexis studied data presented as a series over time. He initiated the study of time series with his 1879 article On the theory of the stability of statistical series .

Lexis required a binomial dispersion for his series to be stable and this ruled out most interesting series. However it applied to the problem of year to year fluctuation of the sex ratio among children born in a city. It posed the question of whether an empirical index of dispersion is consistent with the assumption that sex is governed by a simple chance mechanism.

References:

  1. S M Stigler, The History of Statistics. The Measurement of Uncertainty before 1900 (Cambridge, Mass.-London, 1986), 222- .
  2. Wilhelm Lexis, Neue Deutsche Biographie (Berlin, 1952-). 
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