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Statistics
There were two widely divergent influences on the early development of statistical methods. Statistics had a mother who was dedicated to keeping orderly records of governmental units (state and statistics come from the same Latin root status) and a gentlemanly gambling father who relied on mathematics to increase his skill at playing the odds in games of chance.
The influence of the mother on the offspring, statistics, is represented by counting, measuring, describing, tabulating, ordering, and the taking of censuses --all of which led to modern descriptive statistics. From the influence of the father came modern inferential statistics, which is based squarely on theories of probability.
Descriptive statistics involves tabulating, depicting and describing collections of data. These data may be quantitative such as measures of height, intelligence or grade level --variables that are characterized by an underlying continuum --or the data may represent qualitative variables, such as sex, college major or personality type. Large masses of data must generally undergo a process of summarization or reduction before they are comprehensible. Descriptive statistics is a tool for describing or summarizing or reducing to comprehensible form the properties of an otherwise unwieldy mass of data.
Inferential statistics is a formalized body of methods for solving another class of problems that present great difficulties for the unaided human mind. This general class of problems characteristically involve attempts to make predictions using a sample of observations. For example, a school superintendent wishes to determine the proportion of children in a large school system who come to school without breakfast, have been vaccinated for flu, or whatever. Having a little knowledge of statistics, the superintendent would know that it is unnecessary and inefficient to question each child: the proportion for the entire district could be estimated fairly accurately from a sample of as few as 100 children. Thus, the purpose of inferential statistics is to predict or estimate characteristics of a population from a knowledge of the characteristics of only a sample of the population.
統(tǒng)計學(xué)
統(tǒng)計方法的早期發(fā)展受到兩種截然不同的影響。 統(tǒng)計學(xué)有一個"母親"，她致力于井井有條地記錄政府機構(gòu)的文件(國家和統(tǒng)計學(xué)這兩個詞源于同一個拉丁語詞根，status)，還有一 個有紳士般的賭博"父親"，他依靠數(shù)學(xué)來提高賭技，以便在幾率的游戲中取勝。 "母親"對其子女統(tǒng)計學(xué)的影響表現(xiàn)在計數(shù)、測量、描述、制表、歸類和人口普查。 所有這些導(dǎo)致了 現(xiàn)代描述統(tǒng)計學(xué)的誕生。
由于"父親"的影響則產(chǎn)生了完全基于概率論原理的現(xiàn)代推理統(tǒng)計 學(xué)。 描述統(tǒng)計學(xué)涉及對所收集數(shù)據(jù)的制表、制圖和描述。 這些數(shù)據(jù)可以是數(shù)量性的數(shù)據(jù)，如高度、智商、或者是層級性的數(shù)據(jù)--具有連續(xù)性的變量--或數(shù)據(jù)也可以代表性質(zhì)變量，如 性別、大學(xué)專業(yè)或性格類型等等。
數(shù)量龐大的數(shù)據(jù)通常必須經(jīng)過概括或刪減的程序才能為 人所理解。 描述統(tǒng)計學(xué)就是這樣一個工具，它對極其龐雜的數(shù)據(jù)進行描述、概括或刪減，使其變成能為人理解的東西。 推理統(tǒng)計學(xué)是一套已定形了的方法體系，它解決的是光憑人 腦極難解決的另一類問題。
這類問題的顯著特點是試圖通過取樣調(diào)查來作出預(yù)測。 例如， 有一位教育督察想知道在一個龐大的學(xué)校系統(tǒng)中，不吃早飯就上學(xué)的學(xué)生、已經(jīng)做過防感冒免疫的學(xué)生，或其它任何類型的學(xué)生占多大比例。 若具備一些統(tǒng)計學(xué)的知識，這位督察應(yīng) 明白，詢問每個孩子是沒有必要而且沒有效率的，只要用100 個孩子為樣本，他就可以相當(dāng) 精確地得出這些孩子占整個學(xué)區(qū)的比例了。 因此，推理統(tǒng)計學(xué)的目的就是通過了解一個群體中一些樣本的特性，從而對整個群體的特性進行推測和估算。
Obtaining Fresh Water from Icebergs
The concept of obtaining fresh water from icebergs that are towed to populated areas and arid regions of the world was once treated as a joke more appropriate to cartoons than real life. But now it is being considered quite seriously by many nations, especially since scientists have warned that the human race will outgrow its fresh water supply faster than it runs out of food.Glaciers are a possible source of fresh water that has been overlooked until recently. Three-quarters of the Earth’s fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans every year are 7,659 trillion metric tons of ice encased in 10,000 icebergs that break away from the polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctica.
Huge glaciers that stretch over the shallow continental shelf give birth to icebergs throughout the year. Icebergs are not like sea ice, which is formed when the sea itself freezes, rather, they are formed entirely on land, breaking off when glaciers spread over the sea. As they drift away from the polar region, icebergs sometimes move mysteriously in a direction opposite to the wind, pulled by subsurface currents. Because they melt more slowly than smaller pieces of ice, icebergs have been known to drift as far north as 35 degrees south of the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. To corral them and steer them to parts of the world where they are needed would not be too difficult.
The difficulty arises in other technical matters, such as the prevention of rapid melting in warmer climates and the funneling of fresh water to shore in great volume. But even if the icebergs lost half of their volume in towing, the water they could provide would be far cheaper than that produced by desalinization, or removing salt from water.
從冰山中獲取淡水 把冰山拖到世界上人口稠密的地區(qū)和干旱地帶，再從中獲取淡水，這個想法曾一度被認為是一個笑話，更適合于卡通畫，而非現(xiàn)實生活。然而現(xiàn)在，許多國家正相當(dāng)認真地考慮 這件事情，特別是在科學(xué)家們發(fā)出警告之后。
科學(xué)家們認為人類將在耗盡糧食之前首先耗 盡淡水資源。冰川是一個直到最近以前一直被忽視的可能的淡水源。全球四分之三的淡水 還鎖在冰川的冰塊中。冰川就是一個蓄水池，其中未開發(fā)的淡水量是如此巨大，足夠支持全世界的江河 1000 年。 每年有 7，659 萬億公噸冰漂流在海洋中。它們包含在 10，000 座從極地冰帽中斷裂出來的冰山中。 這些冰山的 90%以上來自南極。 一年四季里，覆蓋在淺層大陸架上的巨大冰川生成了眾多冰山。 冰山和海水的冰不同，后者是海水自身結(jié)冰 形成的，而冰山則完全是在陸地上形成的。
當(dāng)冰川伸展到海水中時，冰山就斷裂下來。 當(dāng)漂離極地地區(qū)時，冰山有時會在底層洋流的推動下頗為神秘地逆風(fēng)移動。由于冰山比小塊的冰融化要慢，因此有的冰山在大西洋中向北飄到了赤道以南 35°的地方。 把冰山蓄攔起 來并拖到世界上需要它們的地方將不會太困難。有困難的是其它的技術(shù)事宜。 比如，如何 防止冰山在較暖的氣候中迅速融化以及如何把大量的淡水收集到岸上去。 但是，即便在拖的過程中冰山失去了一半體積，這樣做也遠比從海水中脫鹽取得淡水便宜。
Statistics
There were two widely divergent influences on the early development of statistical methods. Statistics had a mother who was dedicated to keeping orderly records of governmental units (state and statistics come from the same Latin root status) and a gentlemanly gambling father who relied on mathematics to increase his skill at playing the odds in games of chance.
The influence of the mother on the offspring, statistics, is represented by counting, measuring, describing, tabulating, ordering, and the taking of censuses --all of which led to modern descriptive statistics. From the influence of the father came modern inferential statistics, which is based squarely on theories of probability.
Descriptive statistics involves tabulating, depicting and describing collections of data. These data may be quantitative such as measures of height, intelligence or grade level --variables that are characterized by an underlying continuum --or the data may represent qualitative variables, such as sex, college major or personality type. Large masses of data must generally undergo a process of summarization or reduction before they are comprehensible. Descriptive statistics is a tool for describing or summarizing or reducing to comprehensible form the properties of an otherwise unwieldy mass of data.
Inferential statistics is a formalized body of methods for solving another class of problems that present great difficulties for the unaided human mind. This general class of problems characteristically involve attempts to make predictions using a sample of observations. For example, a school superintendent wishes to determine the proportion of children in a large school system who come to school without breakfast, have been vaccinated for flu, or whatever. Having a little knowledge of statistics, the superintendent would know that it is unnecessary and inefficient to question each child: the proportion for the entire district could be estimated fairly accurately from a sample of as few as 100 children. Thus, the purpose of inferential statistics is to predict or estimate characteristics of a population from a knowledge of the characteristics of only a sample of the population.
統(tǒng)計學(xué)
統(tǒng)計方法的早期發(fā)展受到兩種截然不同的影響。 統(tǒng)計學(xué)有一個"母親"，她致力于井井有條地記錄政府機構(gòu)的文件(國家和統(tǒng)計學(xué)這兩個詞源于同一個拉丁語詞根，status)，還有一 個有紳士般的賭博"父親"，他依靠數(shù)學(xué)來提高賭技，以便在幾率的游戲中取勝。 "母親"對其子女統(tǒng)計學(xué)的影響表現(xiàn)在計數(shù)、測量、描述、制表、歸類和人口普查。 所有這些導(dǎo)致了 現(xiàn)代描述統(tǒng)計學(xué)的誕生。
由于"父親"的影響則產(chǎn)生了完全基于概率論原理的現(xiàn)代推理統(tǒng)計 學(xué)。 描述統(tǒng)計學(xué)涉及對所收集數(shù)據(jù)的制表、制圖和描述。 這些數(shù)據(jù)可以是數(shù)量性的數(shù)據(jù)，如高度、智商、或者是層級性的數(shù)據(jù)--具有連續(xù)性的變量--或數(shù)據(jù)也可以代表性質(zhì)變量，如 性別、大學(xué)專業(yè)或性格類型等等。
數(shù)量龐大的數(shù)據(jù)通常必須經(jīng)過概括或刪減的程序才能為 人所理解。 描述統(tǒng)計學(xué)就是這樣一個工具，它對極其龐雜的數(shù)據(jù)進行描述、概括或刪減，使其變成能為人理解的東西。 推理統(tǒng)計學(xué)是一套已定形了的方法體系，它解決的是光憑人 腦極難解決的另一類問題。
這類問題的顯著特點是試圖通過取樣調(diào)查來作出預(yù)測。 例如， 有一位教育督察想知道在一個龐大的學(xué)校系統(tǒng)中，不吃早飯就上學(xué)的學(xué)生、已經(jīng)做過防感冒免疫的學(xué)生，或其它任何類型的學(xué)生占多大比例。 若具備一些統(tǒng)計學(xué)的知識，這位督察應(yīng) 明白，詢問每個孩子是沒有必要而且沒有效率的，只要用100 個孩子為樣本，他就可以相當(dāng) 精確地得出這些孩子占整個學(xué)區(qū)的比例了。 因此，推理統(tǒng)計學(xué)的目的就是通過了解一個群體中一些樣本的特性，從而對整個群體的特性進行推測和估算。
Obtaining Fresh Water from Icebergs
The concept of obtaining fresh water from icebergs that are towed to populated areas and arid regions of the world was once treated as a joke more appropriate to cartoons than real life. But now it is being considered quite seriously by many nations, especially since scientists have warned that the human race will outgrow its fresh water supply faster than it runs out of food.Glaciers are a possible source of fresh water that has been overlooked until recently. Three-quarters of the Earth’s fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans every year are 7,659 trillion metric tons of ice encased in 10,000 icebergs that break away from the polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctica.
Huge glaciers that stretch over the shallow continental shelf give birth to icebergs throughout the year. Icebergs are not like sea ice, which is formed when the sea itself freezes, rather, they are formed entirely on land, breaking off when glaciers spread over the sea. As they drift away from the polar region, icebergs sometimes move mysteriously in a direction opposite to the wind, pulled by subsurface currents. Because they melt more slowly than smaller pieces of ice, icebergs have been known to drift as far north as 35 degrees south of the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. To corral them and steer them to parts of the world where they are needed would not be too difficult.
The difficulty arises in other technical matters, such as the prevention of rapid melting in warmer climates and the funneling of fresh water to shore in great volume. But even if the icebergs lost half of their volume in towing, the water they could provide would be far cheaper than that produced by desalinization, or removing salt from water.
從冰山中獲取淡水 把冰山拖到世界上人口稠密的地區(qū)和干旱地帶，再從中獲取淡水，這個想法曾一度被認為是一個笑話，更適合于卡通畫，而非現(xiàn)實生活。然而現(xiàn)在，許多國家正相當(dāng)認真地考慮 這件事情，特別是在科學(xué)家們發(fā)出警告之后。
科學(xué)家們認為人類將在耗盡糧食之前首先耗 盡淡水資源。冰川是一個直到最近以前一直被忽視的可能的淡水源。全球四分之三的淡水 還鎖在冰川的冰塊中。冰川就是一個蓄水池，其中未開發(fā)的淡水量是如此巨大，足夠支持全世界的江河 1000 年。 每年有 7，659 萬億公噸冰漂流在海洋中。它們包含在 10，000 座從極地冰帽中斷裂出來的冰山中。 這些冰山的 90%以上來自南極。 一年四季里，覆蓋在淺層大陸架上的巨大冰川生成了眾多冰山。 冰山和海水的冰不同，后者是海水自身結(jié)冰 形成的，而冰山則完全是在陸地上形成的。
當(dāng)冰川伸展到海水中時，冰山就斷裂下來。 當(dāng)漂離極地地區(qū)時，冰山有時會在底層洋流的推動下頗為神秘地逆風(fēng)移動。由于冰山比小塊的冰融化要慢，因此有的冰山在大西洋中向北飄到了赤道以南 35°的地方。 把冰山蓄攔起 來并拖到世界上需要它們的地方將不會太困難。有困難的是其它的技術(shù)事宜。 比如，如何 防止冰山在較暖的氣候中迅速融化以及如何把大量的淡水收集到岸上去。 但是，即便在拖的過程中冰山失去了一半體積，這樣做也遠比從海水中脫鹽取得淡水便宜。