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THERE ARE TWO WAYS IN WHICH SCIENTISTS VIEW THE UNIVERSE. THE FIRST MODEL IS THAT OF NEWTON IN WHICH RELATIONSHIPS ARE GOVERNED BY CALCULUS AND IN WHICH THERE ARE ABSOLUTES IN TIME, SPACE, MATTER, AND ENERGY. THE OTHER IS THE VIEW OF MAXWELL, EINSTEIN AND HEISENBERG, IN WHICH REALITY IS TEMPERED BY AN UNCERTAINTY GOVERNED BY THE VAGARIES OF PROBABILITY.
THE MATHEMATICAL BASIS FOR THE APPROACH LIES IN STATISTICS. IT RECEIVED ITS GREATEST DEVELOPMENT BY PIERRE SIMON, MARQUIS DELPLACE WHO CONVERTED A TOOL FOR ESTIMATING ODDS AND PREDICTING THE OUTCOME IN GAMES OF CHANCE INTO A METHOD ROUTINELY APPLICABLE IN MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS, AND NOW A PRIME TOOL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENTIST AS WELL. LAPLACE HIMSELF SUMMERIZED THE EFFORT IN THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT FROM HIS "PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAY ON PROBABILITIES" IN 1814.
WE SEE THAT THE THEORY OF PROBABILITIES
IS AT BOTTOM ONLY COMMON SENSE REDUCED TO
CALCULATION; IT MAKES US APPRECIATE WITH EXACTITUDE
WHAT REASONABLE MINDS FEEL BY A SORT OF INSTINCT,
OFTEN WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR IT ......
IT IS REMARKABLE THAT THIS SCIENCE, WHICH ORIGINATED
IN THE CONSIDERATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE, SHOULD HAVE
BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT OBJECT OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.
IN THIS FIELD BALL STATE UNIVERSITY HAS MADE NOTEWORTHY CONTRIBUTIONS AND WE RECOGNIZE ONE FACULTY MEMBER THIS EVENING. OUR OUTSTANDING RESEARCHER AWARD GOES THIS YEAR TO PROFESSOR MIR MASOOM ALI WHO HAS CONTINUED THE TRADITION OF REFINING STATISTICAL INFERENCE.
ONE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION OF HIS IS THE ORGANIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE "MIDWEST BIOPHARMACEUTICAL STATISTICS WORKSHOP" WHICH FOR NINE YEARS NOW HAS ATTRACTED OUTSTANDING WORKERS FROM MAJOR ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH GROUPS TO DISCUSS THE CURRENT ISSUES IN BIOSCIENCES AND STATISTICS. HE HAS PRESENTED MANY, MANY PAPERS, PUBLISHED NEARLY FORTY ARTICLES AND GENERALLY PROMOTED RESEARCH ACROSS THE CAMPUS. MOST RECENTLY HE WAS ELECTED A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY.
CONGRATULATIONS ARE DUE TO DR. ALI AND TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES.