The RSS History of Statistics Section hosted a talk by Prof Lynn McDonald of the University of Guelph (emerita) and chaired by Dr Cecilia Lanata-Briones, the section chair, on 6th March, 2024. The meeting was attended by over twenty people and took place at the RSS headquarters.
McDonald’s talk recounted Nightingale’s statistical life. In particular, she showed how Nightingale in her “call to service” helped to extract positive, actionable lessons from horrific events, such as the Crimean War, using statistics. McDonald also discussed Nightingale’s wide range of collaborations across the social and medical sciences to look at overcrowding and the effects of sunlight to death rates of Aboriginal students in colonial schools. Through these collaborations—including her primary collaborator William Farr—Nightingale developed new ways of designing data collection procedures and data visualization techniques which we still use today.
One interesting question from the audience noted that the RSS was not mentioned in the talk. McDonald explained that by the time she was inducted as a Fellow, she was too ill to participate in society activities. Other audience members continued the discussion by noting her involvement with the RSS indirectly through other members, for example.
McDonald ended her talk with a touching photo of a relief of Lord Lister and a statue of Florence Nightingale at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary side-by-side. Two greats who saved many lives in their lifetime.
The talk was recorded by the RSS and is available through YouTube.