Funny Numbers: Unruly Outcomes of Data-Driven Management

Theodore M. Porter is professor of history at UCLA, where he has taught since 1992.  Before that he held a postdoctoral position at Caltech and was assistant professor at the University of Virginia.  He held a year-long position at the ZiF of the University of Bielefeld in 1982-83, and again at the Wissenschaftskolleg in 2013-14.  His books include The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900 (1986); Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life (1995); and Karl Pearson: The Scientific Life in a Statistical Age (2004). His book The Unknown History of Human Heredity should be published finally in 2018.  For the future, he is looking to Funny Numbers.

This keynote lecture is part of the workshop "Beyond Data: Knowledge Production in Bureaucracies across Science, Commerce, and the State," taking place at the GHI June 1 - 3. The lecture will be preceded by a reception with refreshments from 6:00 to 6:30 pm.