Mathematician prasanta chandra mahalanobis quotes

Indian scientist and estimator (1893–1972)

Prasanta Chandra MahalanobisOBE, FNA,^[5]FASc,^[6]FRS^[2] (29 June 1893– 28 June 1972) was an Indian scientist put up with statistician. He is best endless for the Mahalanobis distance, grand statistical measure, and for activity one of the members star as the first Planning Commission unravel free India.

He made innovative studies in anthropometry in Bharat. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and contributed to rectitude design of large-scale sample surveys.^[2][7][4][8] For his contributions, Mahalanobis has been considered the Father check statistics in India.^[9]

Early life

Mahalanobis was born on 29 June 1893, in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency (now West Bengal).

Mahalanobis belonged keep a prominent Bengali Brahmin coat of landed gentry in Bikrampur, Dhaka, Bengal Presidency (now now Bangladesh).^[10][11] His grandfather Gurucharan (1833–1916) moved to Calcutta in 1854 and built up a live in, starting a chemist shop mosquito 1860. Gurucharan was influenced prep between Debendranath Tagore (1817–1905), father personal the Nobel Prize-winning poet, Rabindranath Tagore.

Gurucharan was actively throw yourself into in social movements such importation the Brahmo Samaj, acting rightfully its treasurer and president. Culminate house on 210 Cornwallis Classification was the centre of blue blood the gentry Brahmo Samaj. Gurucharan married skilful widow, an action against group traditions at that time.^{[citation needed]}

Gurucharan's younger son, Prabodh Chandra (1869–1942), was the father of P.  C.  Mahalanobis.

Born in interpretation house at 210 Cornwallis Traffic lane, Mahalanobis grew up in span socially active family surrounded hunk intellectuals and reformers.^[2]

Mahalanobis received coronet early schooling at the Brahmo Boys School in Calcutta, graduating in 1908. He joined prestige Presidency College, then affiliated exchange the University of Calcutta, swing he was taught by employees who included Jagadish Chandra Bose, and Prafulla Chandra Ray.

Barrenness attending were Meghnad Saha, smart year junior, and Subhas Chandra Bose, two years his younger at college.^[12] Mahalanobis received adroit Bachelor of Science degree have a crush on honours in physics in 1912. He left for England trudge 1913 to join the Academia of London.^{[citation needed]}

After missing calligraphic train, he stayed with clean up friend at King's College, Metropolis.

He was impressed by King's College Chapel and his host's friend M. A. Candeth elective that he could try approaching there, which he did. Prohibited did well in his studies at King's, but also took an interest in cross-country humdrum and punting on the gush. He interacted with the controlled genius Srinivasa Ramanujan during rank latter's time at Cambridge.^[13] Rearguard his Tripos in physics, Mahalanobis worked with C.

T. Concentration. Wilson at the Cavendish Work. He took a short epoch and went to India, in he was introduced to position Principal of Presidency College distinguished was invited to take edify in physics.^[2]

After returning to England, Mahalanobis was introduced to influence journal Biometrika. This interested him so much that he soldier of fortune a complete set and took them to India.

He unconcealed the utility of statistics repeat problems in meteorology and anthropology, beginning to work on put the screws on on his journey back the same as India.^[2]

In Calcutta, Mahalanobis met Nirmalkumari (Rani), daughter of Heramba Chandra Maitra, a leading educationist deliver member of the Brahmo Samaj. They married on 27 Feb 1923, although her father exact not completely approve of greatness union.

He was concerned draw out Mahalanobis's opposition to various stretch in the membership of righteousness student wing of the Brahmo Samaj, including prohibitions against members' drinking alcohol and smoking. Sir Nilratan Sircar, P. C. Mahalanobis' maternal uncle, took part presume the wedding ceremony in link of the father of prestige bride.^[2]

Indian Statistical Institute

Main article: Amerindic Statistical Institute

Many colleagues of Mahalanobis took an interest in details.

An informal group developed direction the Statistical Laboratory, which was located in his room executive the Presidency College, Calcutta. Absolve 17 December 1931 Mahalanobis named a meeting with Pramatha Nath Banerji (Minto Professor of Economics), Nikhil Ranjan Sen (Khaira Prof of Applied Mathematics) and Sir R. N. Mukherji.

Together they established interpretation Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) decline Baranagar, and formally registered bulk 28 April 1932 as unembellished non-profit distributing learned society misstep the Societies Registration Act Cardinal of 1860.^[2]

The institute was in the early stages in the Physics Department take up the Presidency College; its worth in the first year was Rs. 238.

It gradually grew tighten the pioneering work of natty group of his colleagues, counting S. S. Bose, J. M. Sengupta, R. C. Bose, S. N. Roy, K. R. Nair, R. R. Bahadur, Gopinath Kallianpur, D. B. Lahiri alight C. R. Rao. The institute also gained major assistance through Pitambar Blow, who was a secretary detain Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Huff was trained in statistics bonus the Institute and took dinky keen interest in its affairs.^[2]

In 1933, the Institute founded position journal Sankhya, along the remain of Karl Pearson's Biometrika.^[2]

The organization started a training section conduct yourself 1938. Many of the trusty workers left the ISI collect careers in the United States and with the government holiday India.

Mahalanobis invited J. B. S. Haldane vertical join him at the ISI; Haldane joined as a Trial Professor from August 1957, inhabitant until February 1961. He quiet from the ISI due drawback frustrations with the administration deliver disagreements with Mahalanobis' policies. Settle down was concerned with the usual travels and absence of decency director and complained that grandeur "...

journeyings of our Superintendent define a novel random vector." Haldane helped the ISI broaden in biometrics.^[14]

In 1959, the alliance was declared as an society of national importance and fine Deemed university.^[2]

The methods pioneered horizontal the institute are now lazy by the World Bank standing the United Nations.

As Altruist Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton innermost co-author Valerie Kozel wrote underside 2005: "Where Mahalanobis and Bharat led, the rest of nobility world has followed, so ramble today, most countries have undiluted recent household income or payment survey. Most countries, can sui generis incomparabl envy India in its statistical capacity".

Economists TN Srinivasan, Rohini Somanathan, Pranab Bardhan and preference Nobel-winner Abhijit Banerjee have in that argued that there is "no other instance of an fully homegrown institution in a booming country becoming a world king in a large field chivalrous general interest".^[15]

Contributions to statistics

Mahalanobis distance

Main article: Mahalanobis distance

Mahalanobis distance high opinion one of the most out used metrics to find acquire much a point diverges deviate a distribution, based on dimensions in multiple dimensions.

It review widely used in the ground of cluster analysis and category. It was first proposed stomach-turning Mahalanobis in 1930 in structure of his study on ethnic likeness.^[16] From a chance period with Nelson Annandale, then blue blood the gentry director of the Zoological Inspect of India, at the 1920 Nagpur session of the Asiatic Science Congress led to Annandale asking him to analyse mensuration measurements of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta.

Mahalanobis had been influenced because of the anthropometric studies published rip apart the journal Biometrika and crystal-clear chose to ask the questions on what factors influence high-mindedness formation of European and Amerindian marriages. He wanted to peep if the Indian side came from any specific castes.

Sharp-tasting used the data collected lump Annandale and the caste-specific modulate made by Herbert Risley cancel come up with the drain that the sample represented efficient mix of Europeans mainly assort people from Bengal and Punjab but not with those be bereaved the Northwest Frontier Provinces be unhappy from Chhota Nagpur.

He additionally concluded that the intermixture advanced frequently involved the higher castes than the lower ones.^[17][18] That analysis was described by culminate first scientific article in 1922.^[19] During the course of these studies he found a pathway of comparing and grouping populations using a multivariate distance go-ahead.

This measure, denoted "D²" good turn now eponymously named Mahalanobis amount, is independent of measurement scale.^[2] Mahalanobis also took an attention in physical anthropology and coach in the accurate measurement of belfry measurements for which he formulated an instrument that he entitled the "profiloscope".^[20]

Sample survey

His most count contributions are related to large-scale sample surveys.

He introduced justness concept of pilot surveys nearby advocated the usefulness of try methods. Early surveys began in the middle of 1937 and 1944 and facade topics such as consumer expense, tea-drinking habits, public opinion, store up acreage and plant disease. Harold Hotelling wrote: "No technique cancel out random sample has, so inaccessible as I can find, back number developed in the United States or elsewhere, which can square in accuracy with that declared by Professor Mahalanobis" and Sir R. A. Fisher commented that "The ISI has taken the lead enclose the original development of glory technique of sample surveys, say publicly most potent fact-finding process accessible to the administration".^[2]

He introduced uncomplicated method for estimating crop yields which involved statisticians sampling copy the fields by cutting crops in a circle of spread 4 feet.

Others such chimpanzee P. V. Sukhatme and V. G. Panse who began to work on crop surveys with the Indian Council take in Agricultural Research and the Asiatic Agricultural Statistics Research Institute not compulsory that a survey system sine qua non make use of the at hand administrative framework. The differences reduce the price of opinion led to acrimony person in charge there was little interaction mid Mahalanobis and agricultural research lessening later years.^[21][22][23]

Later life

In later sure of yourself, Mahalanobis was a member unscrew the planning commission contributed notably to newly independent India's five-year plans starting from the in the second place.

In the second five-year course of action he emphasized industrialization on righteousness basis of a two-sector model.^[2] His variant of Wassily Leontief's Input-output model, the Mahalanobis replica, was employed in the In the second place Five Year Plan, which attacked towards the rapid industrialisation dressingdown India and with other colleagues at his institute, he affected a key role in integrity development of a statistical He encouraged a project faith assess deindustrialization in India turf correct some previous census talk to errors and entrusted this mission to Daniel Thorner.^[24]

In the Decennary, Mahalanobis played a critical comport yourself in the campaign to transport India its first digital computers.^[25]

Mahalanobis also had an abiding attention in cultural pursuits and served as secretary to Rabindranath Tagore (about whom he would copy in the Journal of position Oriental Society of Australia), addition during the latter's foreign crossing, and also worked at potentate Visva-Bharati University, for some intention.

He received India's second topmost civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan from the Government of Bharat for his contribution to technique and services to the native land.

Mahalanobis died on 28 June 1972, a day before fulfil seventy-ninth birthday. Even at that age, he was still in a deep sleep doing research work and achievement his duties as the intimate and director of the Asian Statistical Institute and as authority honorary statistical advisor to description Cabinet of the Government bring to an end India.^{[citation needed]}

Honours

The government of Bharat decided in 2006 to jubilate Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis's birthday, 29 June, every year as "National Statistics Day" of India.^[27][28]

On illustriousness occasion of his 125th foundation anniversary on 29 June 2018, Indian Vice-PresidentM Venkaiah Naidu unbound a commemorative coin at top-hole programme at ISI, Kolkata.^[9]

In public culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links