Henry Ellis Daniels FRS[1] (2 October 1912 – 16 April 2000)[2][3] was a British statistician. He was President of the Royal Statistical Society (1974–1975), and was awarded its Guy Medal in Gold in 1984, following a silver medal in 1947. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1980. The Parry-Daniels map is named after him (together with the English mathematician Bill Parry).[3][4]
Henry Ellis Daniels | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 October 1912 London, UK |
| Died | 16 April 2000 (aged 87) Shrewsbury, UK |
| Occupation | Statistician |
| Known for | The Parry-Daniels map Saddle point approximation |
| Spouse | Barbara Pickering (m. 1950) |
| Children | 2 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh University of Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor | Alexander Aitken |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Wool Industries Research Association University of Cambridge University of Birmingham |
| Doctoral students | David Cox James Durbin Anil Kumar Gain Wally Smith |
Education and career
Daniels was born in London and was educated at George Heriot's School.[5] He subsequently graduated from the University of Edinburgh (M.A. Hons. 1933[citation needed], PhD 1943)[6] and went on to further study at Clare College, Cambridge (B.A. 1935).[7] In 1957, he became the first Professor of Mathematical Statistics at the University of Birmingham.[2] He stayed at the university till his retirement in 1978. After retirement, he went to Cambridge and lived there until his death.[8] He died at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, having suffered a "massive stroke" at breakfast time the previous day.[1] His funeral was officiated, at his request, by a humanist.[1]
The watchmaker George Daniels (no relation) enlisted Daniels' help with the equations required for the design of his Space Traveller's Watch.[2]
Personal life
Daniels' family was Jewish, of Russian (partly Polish and partly Lithuanian) origin.[5] In 1950, Daniels married Barbara Pickering; together, they had two children.[1]
In 2000, while on travel during a workshop held at Gregynog Hall, Daniels suffered a massive stroke and died at the nearby Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.[1]
Selected publications by Daniels
- Daniels, H. E. (1954). "Saddlepoint Approximations in Statistics" (PDF). The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 25 (4): 631–650. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177728652.
- Daniels, H. E. (1975). "Statistics in Universities--A Personal View". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. 138 (1): 1–17. doi:10.2307/2345246. JSTOR 2345246.
