1827 : la mode de la statistique en France; origine, extension, personnages

TL;DR

Since 1827, a distinctive French tradition of statistical description emerged, influenced by social and cultural factors, with some amateurs attempting quantitative proof despite limited adoption of formal statistical methods.

Contribution

This paper explores the historical development and cultural context of the French statistical tradition starting in 1827, highlighting its unique features and societal influences.

Findings

Statistical ideas penetrated French press and culture from 1827.

Amateurs focused on descriptive statistics rather than formal methods.

Some early efforts aimed at quantitative proof despite limited scientific adoption.

Abstract

Independent to a great extent from the scientific development of the discipline, a trend for statistics has developed in France, from 1827 on. It was probably sparked by Charles Dupin's 'Carte figurative de l'instruction populaire', with its famous Saint-Malo Geneva line, supposed to separate the educated North from the ignorant South. It became attractive to produce, under the name 'statistics', more or less quantitative descriptions on any subject. Beyond literary records, the phenomenon can be measured by its semantic penetration in the press. Even if the ambition of most of these amateurs has remained strictly descriptive, some of them did raise the issue of proving through numbers. This is particularly remarkable, since within institutional science, the techniques of statistical proving, that had been introduced by Laplace at the end of the 18th century, have remained largely ignored for a very long time.