WYSO is partnering with Stats and Stories, a podcast produced at Miami University.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Widely regarded as one of the progenitors of modern nursing, Nightingale was also influential in the field of statistics. In 1858 she was the first woman elected to the Royal Statistical Society and was made an honorary member of the American Statistical Association in 1874. As with many historical figures, both story of the lady with the lamp who nursed injured soldiers has, at times, served to almost mythologize Nightingale’s contributions to the fields of public health and statistics. The fact and fiction of Florence Nightingale’s statistical legacy is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories. Rosemary Pennington and regular panelist John Bailer are joined by Lynn McDonald, Professor Emerita at the University of Guelph and a former member of the Canadian Parliament. McDonald is also an expert on Florence Nightingale, serving as the Director of the Sixteen Volume, the Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. McDonald also recently wrote an article for Significance Magazine examining Nightingale’s contribution to the fields of statistics.
Stats and Stories is a partnership between Miami University's Departments of Statistics and Media, Journalism and Film and the American Statistical Association. You can follow us on Twitter or iTunes. If you'd like to share your thoughts on our program, send your e-mail to statsandstories@miamioh.edu and be sure to listen for future editions of Stats and Stories where we discuss the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics.