The Flawed Genius of William Playfair: The Story of the Father of Statistical Graphics

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David R. Bellhouse

The Flawed Genius of William Playfair

The Story of the Father of Statistical Graphics

David R. Bellhouse

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Hardback

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English

University of Toronto Press
23 August 2023

Philosophy of mathematics; Mathematical foundations; History of mathematics; History of science

This book shares the life story of William Playfair, the father of statistical graphics, who experienced extreme ups and downs in his various careers, including as a statistician, economist, and fraudster.

A product of the Scottish Enlightenment, William Playfair (1759-1823) worked as a statistician, economist, engineer, banker, land speculator, scam artist, and political propagandist. It has been claimed — erroneously — that Playfair was a spy for the British government and ran a forging operation to print the paper money of the French Revolution.

The Flawed Genius of William Playfair offers a complete account of Playfair’s life, richly contextualized in the economic, political, and cultural history of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The book explores the many peaks and troughs of Playfair’s career, ranging from moderate prosperity to bankruptcy and imprisonment.

Through careful analysis, David R. Bellhouse shows that Playfair was neither a spy nor a forger, but perhaps briefly a one-time courier for a government minister. Bellhouse pieces together as complete a picture as possible of the forging operations supported by the British government and illuminates Playfair’s lasting contributions in economics and statistics, where he is known as the father of statistical graphics. Disputing the misinformation about the man, The Flawed Genius of William Playfair highlights that the truth about Playfair’s life is often more intriguing than the fictions that surround him.

By: David R. Bellhouse
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 620g
ISBN: 9781487545031
ISBN 10: 1487545037
Pages: 356
Publication Date: 23 August 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface: Playfair Is Introduced 1. Playfair Is Sent to Newgate Prison 2. Playfair Goes to Birmingham to Work for Boulton and Watt 3. Playfair Goes to London to Set Up His Own Business 4. Playfair Evolves into a Writer by Profession 5. Playfair Expresses His Early Political Views 6. Playfair Makes His Mark on Statistical Graphics 7. Playfair Goes to Paris 8. Playfair Tries to Take Advantage of the French Revolution 9. Playfair Escapes from France and Returns to England 10. Playfair Becomes an Avid Anti-Jacobin Propagandist 11. Playfair Gets Involved with Forged Assignats 12. Playfair Starts a Bank and Goes Bankrupt 13. Playfair Ekes Out a Living as a Bankrupt 14. Playfair Has a Good Year during 1805 with Hints of Ending Badly 15. Playfair Has Serious Legal and Other Problems 16. Playfair Dabbles Deeply into Family History and Political Biography 17. Playfair Continues Writing and Tries a Few More Scams to Get to Paris 18. Playfair Returns to Paris 19. Playfair Spends His Last Few Years in England in Poverty Afterword: Playfair Avoids a Shakespearean Epitaph Appendix: Assignat Forging by French Emigres in England Notes Index

David R. Bellhouse is a professor emeritus in the Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences at Western University.

Reviews for The Flawed Genius of William Playfair: The Story of the Father of Statistical Graphics

"""William Playfair's character and accomplishments beyond his famous graphics come vividly to the fore in this attractively illustrated biography. Bellhouse's exacting research reveals in forensic detail the nature of this enigmatic figure and the political and financial currents that shaped him."" --Stephen M. Stigler, Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Statistics, University of Chicago ""No novelist would dare invent so unlikely a rascal as William Playfair: engineer, businessman, pamphleteer, scam-artist, jailbird, and, eventually, pauper, but also the inventor of techniques for the graphical presentation of statistics that are still in widespread use. Bellhouse's biography is simultaneously erudite history of science and highly entertaining reading. Strongly recommended, and not just to academics."" --David Laidler, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Western University ""The work is a careful, complete, and compelling biography of William Playfair. With captivating presentation, Bellhouse masterfully melds the historical details crucial for the scholar with the narrative required by a lay reader. This book will be the definitive biography of an important and fascinating character."" --Howard Wainer, statistician and author of A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication"