Stephen Stigler
Stephen Mack Stigler (1941- ) American statistician
Stigler is an American statistician and historian of science, best known for formulating Stigler’s Law of Eponymy, the observation that “no scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.”
A professor at the University of Chicago since 1979, he has combined technical innovation in statistics with a commitment to tracing the intellectual roots of the discipline. His work situates modern methods within their historical development, highlighting the interplay between mathematics, science, and culture.
The law itself, introduced in 1980 in a festschrift for sociologist Robert K. Merton (1910–2003), was intended as a playful paradox. Stigler credited Merton with first formulating the idea, thereby ensuring that “Stigler’s Law” exemplified its own principle. Beyond humor, the aphorism underscores a serious point: priority in discovery is often overshadowed by effective communication, timing, or the authority of those who popularize a concept. As such, Stigler’s law has become a cornerstone in discussions of the sociology of science and the mechanisms of intellectual credit.
Biographical Timeline
- 1941 – Born August 10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
- 1963 – Graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics (with Distinction) from Carleton College.
- 1967 – Awarded a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley. Dissertation: Linear Functions of Order Statistics. Advisor: Lucien Le Cam (1924–2000).
- 1967–1979 – Held academic positions at the University of Wisconsin–Madison: Assistant Professor (1967–1971); Associate Professor (1971–1975); Professor (1975–1979)
- 1972–1973 – Visiting Associate Professor, University of Chicago.
- 1976–1977 – Guggenheim Fellow; Visiting Professor, University of Chicago (January–June 1977).
- 1978–1979 – Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California.
- 1979–Present – Professor of Statistics, University of Chicago.
- 1980 – Published Stigler’s Law of Eponymy in a festschrift honouring sociologist Robert K. Merton (1910-2003).
- 1981 – Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- 1986 – Published The History of Statistics: The Measurement of Uncertainty before 1900
- 1986–1992 – Chairman, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago.
- 1992–Present – Ernest DeWitt Burton Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago.
- 1993–1994 – President, Institute of Mathematical Statistics.
- 1994–1995 – Member, Committee on the Forensic Use of DNA, National Research Council.
- 1998 – Awarded the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Chicago.
- 2003–2005 – President, International Statistical Institute.
- 2005 – Awarded honorary D.Sc. from Carleton College.
- 2005–2010 – Chairman, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago (second term).
- 2006 – Elected to the American Philosophical Society.
- 2022 – Published Casanova’s Lottery: The History of a Revolutionary Game of Chance.
Medical Eponyms
Stigler’s Law of Eponymy (1980)
Stigler proposed his self-referential and ironic law in a 1980 festschrift honouring sociologist Robert K. Merton (1910–2003), to whom he credits the original observation. Merton had previously described the concept in his 1957 paper “Priorities in Scientific Discovery”, where he examined the social processes behind how credit is allocated in science.
I have, in the Mertonian tradition of the self-confirming hypothesis, attempted to frame the self- proving theorem. For “Stigler’s Law of Eponymy” in its simplest form is this: “No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer”
Stigler 1980
Stigler’s law offers insight into the sociology of science, aligning with the Matthew Effect (also articulated by Merton) and underlining the cultural dynamics that influence attribution. Examples cited by Stigler include the Pythagorean theorem, Bayes’ theorem, and Halley’s comet, among others.
Major Publications
- Stigler SM. Gergonne’s 1815 paper on the design and analysis of polynomial regression experiments. Historia Mathematica 1974; 1(4): 431-439
- Stigler SM. Mathematical Statistics in the Early States. Ann. Statist. 1978; 6(2): 239-265
- Stigler SM. Stigler’s law of eponymy. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1980; 39: 147–58
- Stigler SM. Who Discovered Bayes’s Theorem? The American Statistician 1983; 37(4): 290-296
- Stigler SM. The History of Statistics: The Measurement of Uncertainty before 1900. 1986
- Stigler SM. Statistics on the Table: The History of Statistical Concepts and Methods. Cambridge. 1999
- Stigler SM. Isaac Newton as a Probabilist. Institute of Mathematical Statistics in Statistical Science, 2006; 21(3): 400-403
- Stigler SM. The Epic Story of Maximum Likelihood. Institute of Mathematical Statistics in Statistical Science, 2007; 22(3): 598-620
- Stigler SM. Karl Pearson’s Theoretical Errors and the Advances They Inspired. Institute of Mathematical Statistics in Statistical Science, 2008; 23(2): 261-271
- Stigler SM. The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom. 2016
- Stigler SM. Casanova’s Lottery: The History of a Revolutionary Game of Chance. 2022
References
Biography
- Behan C. 1998 Quantrell Award: Stephen Stigler. University of Chicago Chronicle. 1998; 17
- Stephen Mack Stigler. Mathematics Genealogy Project
Eponymous terms
- XLII. Letters of 1903 In: Mark Twain’s letters. 1917; 2: 730-731
- Merton RK. Priorities in Scientific Discovery: A Chapter in the Sociology of Science. American Sociological Review 1957; 22(6): 635-659
- Kennedy HC. Who Discovered Boyer’s Law? The American Mathematical Monthly, 1972; 79(1): 66-67
- Ravitch MM. Dupuytren’s invention of the Mikulicz enterotome with a note on eponyms. Perspect Biol Med. 1979; 22(2 Pt 1): 170-184.
- Garfield E. What’s in a name? The eponymic route to immortality. Essays of an Information Scientist, 1983; 6: 384-395
- Kern SE. Whose hypothesis? Ciphering, sectorials, D lesions, freckles and the operation of Stigler’s Law. Cancer Biol Ther. 2002 Sep-Oct;1(5):571-81.
- Benna P. Agostino Carducci, Marc Dax and Stigler’s law of eponymy. Neurol Sci. 2024 Apr;45(4):1809-1810.
Eponym
the person behind the name
